Just Like Them
by ThatGirlWithThatSmile
Summary: Brooklyn Innes has a secret... So secret not even she knows about it. Of family feauds and unsolved deaths and dissapearances. Severus Snape comes into her life at an opportune moment to try and free her from the darkness of her family life.
1. Prologue  Just My Luck

**Disclaimer: I own nothing apart from the obvious OC's…**

The funny thing about being a Blackwater…

Was that you never knew when you could suddenly be about to die.

You may say that's a funny statement but let me explain.

I know that most people never know when they're about to die but if you're a Blackwater, you're almost certain to die sooner than you expected. Under circumstances that you either expected and were waiting for or under circumstances that were unforeseeable. Confused? Me too.

But rest assured that being a Clouds was no better then being a Blackwater. Because being a Clouds was almost the same as being a Blackwater. Except that there was an exceptional difference. Or at least if you got a Clouds and a Blackwater standing in front of you they would tell that there was a difference. I suppose if you were an outsider looking in on the situation you wouldn't really see this difference…

Perhaps I should explain…

It all started with Clara Blackwater and Charlus Clouds. Yep, I blame them. You see they were lovers… Of the secret variety. Clara was only thirteen when she thought she had fallen in love with Charlus. It lasted much longer than it should have and ended much sooner than she had anticipated. But she definitely deserved it. That's what you get when you fall in love with a murdering bastard… I try not to be too biased about these things but…

Anyway… She did fall in love with him and where did she find herself after three years? Yep, you guessed it. With her throat slit. Definitely deserved it. I suppose I shouldn't be so cruel. She was my great great great great great aunt or something. But it's her fault I am in this mess. It's her fault that I am on my own now. I have always blamed her for everything and I am not going to stop now…

Where was I? Right. She was murdered. And she was found in a field that belonged to the Clouds family. Cue lifelong feud between two families resulting in many deaths and disappearances. Unfortunately this feud couldn't be contained in the one lifetime and/or generation… No, it just couldn't have. It's still going. Just my luck.

And on top of that… there is some big family secret that has been passed down for generations that I don't know about. Doesn't help when my parents and grandparents are dead… They really didn't make it easy on me. So where am I? Wandering around like a tourist that's been drugged and stolen from wondering how the hell I got on the other side of the world with nothing but my wand and the dress I am wearing. I don't even have shoes for Merlin's sake! I am currently writing all this down on napkins… Yeah you read right… Napkins.

I suppose I should end this little rant. I know that if I hadn't of written this down I would have forgotten I was here. Hey, that's a thought! Where the hell am I?

Ok just asked some guy with a mo-hawk and he reckons I am in Germany. I think he's lying to me… Try again I think…

Right… I'm in America… In Brooklyn; how ironic. I am in Brooklyn and it is approximately 12:54pm on …. Give me a second…

On March 24th 1995. These napkins are going down my top and hopefully when I have my next lucid moment I will be able to add to it.

Brooklyn Innes signing off… I can already feel everythi…


	2. Silly Little Twits

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Thankyou to GossipGirlArgentina for your review **

August 1981

Severus didn't know what to expect as he made his way to the headmaster's office where he had been summoned. He knew he had done nothing wrong but that didn't stop him from worrying. What if it was about Lily? Or Voldemort? He didn't want to hear that his beloved Lily had perished.

He shook his head. He mustn't think like that. He knew they were well protected and he trusted Dumbledore to keep it that way. He had promised after all.

No this must be something school related; perhaps a change in the curriculum or something along those lines. Maybe they were due for the start of the school year staff meeting. They hadn't had one yet.

Well he guessed he would just have to wait and see until he got up there. No use pondering over it…

Ah another school year was about to begin and he, after only one year, had made a name for himself as the meanest professor at Hogwarts. He smirked to himself. Dumbledore knew what he was like when he hired him so he couldn't complain. Besides, the students needed to know that there were people like him out there… and much worse. He may be a reformed Death Eater but he was still a mean snarky bastard and he wasn't about to change for a bunch of annoying hormonal and self engrossed children. They would learn how to deal with him in time.

His thoughts were brought to a stop as he reached the gargoyles standing guard outside the Headmasters office. Quietly giving them the password he climbed up the stairs ready to have the meeting over and done with already.

"Ah Severus my dear boy, so glad you could join me" Dumbledore said as he smiled at Severus, gesturing the seat in front of his desk.

Severus inclined his head slightly before taking a seat in front of the Headmaster.

"What can I do for you this evening Headmaster?" he asked, noting that there was no one else coming up to the office, hence not a staff meeting…

"I only wish to talk to you about a student that will be joining us this year" he started, reaching into the top draw of his claw shaped desk and pulling out a folder that clearly held all the details of this student.

Severus had to admit that his interest was peaked. Why would Dumbledore wish to speak to him about a student? They didn't even know what house they would be in, they could be Minerva's responsibility after all.

"Her name is Brooklyn Innes does she sound familiar to you Severus?"

Severus just stared at him. Of course it sounded familiar. He had forgotten that they had a daughter. And now it looked like he was going to have to deal with her. He wondered if she would be anything like her parents. Not that he had personally known her parents but he had heard enough about them.

He nodded in response not entirely sure where this was headed. He had a hunch though and he only hoped that he was wrong.

"She will need to be watched Severus" he stated, looking at his Potions Master intently.

He swore inside his head. Of course this job would get landed on him! What if she was in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw? Surely Minerva or Filius would be just as well equipped to deal with her and any past family matters. But of course not, given Severus' past he was the one that would be landed with babysitting duty until they could determine what she was like and who she would become.

"I know that you are none too happy about this extra duty Severus but I believe that you are the best for the job" He said looking down his crooked nose at Severus and knowing the young man would never say no.

Severus resisted the urge to glare at the old man who knew he would never say no. Severus was in no position to do so given his circumstances and the fact that he still felt the need to prove his worth to the old man; if watching over Brooklyn Innes helped in the slightest than he would do it. He had to prove that he was trustworthy not only to the Headmaster but to himself.

Not that he considered going back to his old loyalties but he knew there was darkness within him that he would forever have to fight. He knew that being Dumbledore's lapdog was not going to give him any power and he would always feel inferior and therefore the urge to run back to Voldemort and gain power would always be tempting. But if he thought about it, no matter who he worked for, he would always be working for someone other than himself. He would always be someone's lapdog and always trying to prove his worth.

He shook his head and looked up at Dumbledore who had said nothing while Severus was pondering his situation.

"It is of course fine Headmaster, I will watch over her from the moment she steps foot in the door to the moment she leaves in seven years if need be"

"Excellent" Dumbledore replied beaming and bringing his hands together in front of him, "Now here is her folder, there isn't much in there but I would like you to read it anyway"

Severus took the folder and scanned the first few pages, he was just about to close it and take it back to his office when a photograph fell out and landed on his lap. He looked down and staring up at him was a gorgeous set of pale green eyes surrounded by a halo of light red curls. She was smiling lightly and always looking away from the camera. She looked to be about ten or eleven in the photograph so it was a recent one.

Severus didn't know how long he looked down at the photo before picking it up and placing it back in the folder.

"Is that all you wish to speak to me about Headmaster?" He asked, trying to remove the photo of Brooklyn Innes from his sight.

"Yes, thankyou Severus"

He merely nodded before turning on his heal and hurriedly leaving the Headmaster's office and the knowing look in his sparkling blue eyes.

Severus cursed as he slammed the folder down on top of his desk. What was Dumbledore playing at? There was more to this than he was letting on. Severus' capability for the job was not the only reason Dumbledore asked this of him. He knew it. Well he bloody well hoped he was not trying to match-make. The girl was ten years his junior and Severus was many things but not a child molester…

Of course Dumbledore would never allow something like that anyway so… No he didn't have a match making agenda… So what was it? Severus had not failed to notice the girl's hair and eyes. The red and green, so like Lily's…

Severus shook his head. She was not Lily Evans. She was Brooklyn Innes. She was a student that he now had to watch over… But was Dumbledore trying to get at something with her physical appearance? Of course Severus has a penchant for green eyes and red hair and Dumbledore knew that. Of course Brooklyn's eyes and hair were paler in colour to Lily's… She was a paler form of Lily. She wasn't Lily.

Severus snarled and nearly threw the folder in the fire. Instead he decided to flick through it. The first page held minor details such as name, date and place of birth, parentage and so on. He was irked to notice that she shared his birthday, making him exactly ten years older than her.

The next page however was more detailed; outlining things that Severus already knew about her parents. They were both deceased one killed by an Auror and the other murdered. Brooklyn had grown up with her mother's second husband Cole Reedy. She had other family members that she could have lived with… Her father's parents were still alive and well but they had refused to take her. Evalyn Innes had insisted that Cole be given custody of Brooklyn should she die.

They lived in Cokeworth where she had spent most of her life although she was born in Scotland. This was just getting odder by the minute. He himself had grown up in Cokeworth, not too far away from her by the looks of it. She had lived near Lily. She might have known Lily. She may have even gone to the park that Lily and he played at.

Why must Lily intrude on all his thoughts? He was trying to understand anything he could about Brooklyn Innes before she arrived at the school and all he was managing to do was make every connection he could between herself and his beloved childhood friend. It was frustrating to say the least and he blamed it entirely on Dumbledore. What was he trying to do, make sure that every time he saw Brooklyn's face he would be reminded of Lily and of his loyalty? Seemed a bit of a reach but it was the only explanation he could come up with at the moment.

Sighing, he threw the folder back down on his desk, not wanting to think anymore about this Brooklyn Innes. She was a painful reminder of the youth he destroyed. She reminded him of the old days when Lily and he was that young and still so innocent; before he had immersed himself in the Dark Arts completely and been so attracted by the colourful green lights of power.

…

He was in a particularly foul mood come September 1st. All he had been able to think about for a month now was that bloody girl he was charged with watching over, Brooklyn Innes and now it was time for him to meet her. He wondered if she would be in his house. Argh what did it matter, she was driving him mental!

"You're awfully quiet this evening Severus" Dumbledore noted quietly as the second through seventh years filed into the Great Hall.

"Much on my mind Headmaster" he muttered in return watching all his students from last year take their seats.

The students talked loudly, shouting out to friends across the hall and catching up on news from the summer. Severus found it extremely irritating. He would never have been caught dead shouting across the Great Hall when he was a student; which hadn't been all that long ago. Some of these kids were not that much younger than him, and he knew that some of them sought to use this to their advantage. He had already had one girl the previous year try to sleep with him for grades. Although the girl herself had been a pretty pureblood witch from his own house, he knew she was only asking him because she believed that she could take advantage of his young age.

Minerva walked back into the Hall closely followed by the newest inhabitants of the castle. The hubbub died down and every student in the Great Hall was now looking at the torn and tattered hat placed before them. The students seemed to be holding their breath, especially the first years. Severus rolled his eyes as the hat broke out into song and the first years all took on identical looks of pleasure, their mouths gaping open in astonishment or else beaming with wonder.

All, except one. He had spotted her and she was nowhere near as impressed by the hat as her fellow students. She actually looked rather bored. Perhaps she was just nervous and felt that she would vomit if she opened her mouth. He knew plenty of people that had felt that way during their sorting.

Everyone clapped once the hat had finished its song, her included, though without the vigour of her classmates. He watched as students began to be sorted and clapped at the appropriate times, not taking any notice of who was sorted into his own house. His eyes were glued to Brooklyn Innes who didn't seem to be taking in anything around her. She seemed uncomfortable being there and she looked like she just wanted to go home. That was something he couldn't understand as he had wanted nothing more than to be at Hogwarts when he was her age. But then perhaps she had a happy home life. He found himself hoping that she did. He would never wish his own life upon anyone.

He was brought out of his musings when Minerva called her name out. He watched her move slowly up to the sorting hat, not looking at any of her fellow students nor touching any of them as she went past. She seemed to shrug away from them.

She took her place on the stool and he watched as Minerva placed the hat on her head and watched as it fell down past her ears. He wondered how long the hat would take to place her. It seemed to be having a conversation with her like it always did with the students.

He had hoped that she would be in his own house because it would be easier to keep an eye on her then. But he wondered how much he would have to involve one of the other professors if she was placed in another house. Pomona and Filius seemed the most likely to not ask too many questions regarding his task of watching over her. Minerva on the other hand would want to be involved. She would want to know how Severus thinks she doing and she would always be offering her own insights. Argh, it would be much easier if the girl were in his own house that way no one else need get involved.

It had been almost five minutes since the hat had been placed on her head and still there had been no decision. He wondered if she were Hatstall, although the only ones he knew of were Minerva and Filius.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Severus smiled to himself. Thank Merlin she was in his house. Things would be much easier now. Or at least he hoped so. He prayed that she was nothing like her parents, of whom he had only heard stories about. But those stories had been enough to convince him that he was a lucky man for never having met them.

She didn't seem like the type of person from what he could tell of her demeanour but that was not much to go on. He would have to try and get her alone at least once to assess the type of person she truly was. However if she was shy and didn't draw attention to herself, she may be hard to get hold of. A loud and obnoxious student was much easier to get to know that a quiet goody two shoes.

He watched her closely as she took her seat at Slytherin table. People were clapping her on the back and trying to talk to her. She smiled lightly at them but never made eye contact. She looked down at her empty plate instead and then back up at the sorting, pretending that she was listening.

Once the sorting was over and the food appeared on the table, Severus continued to watch her. She didn't appear to have a big appetite and put only a little on her plate. She ate slowly and continued to avoid eye contact with everyone else around her. He didn't once see her talking to another student and from what he could tell the other students had stopped trying.

Perhaps she was just nervous about being there and wasn't the best at making new friends. Or perhaps she, like him, just didn't like people's company in general. He was like that most of the time when he was her age, the only exception of course being Lily and maybe Lucius, although even Lucius he could've done without.

"Not hungry Severus?" came Dumbledore's mild voice.

Severus wasn't startled but he did tear his gaze away from the young redhead at Slytherin table to look the headmaster in the eye.

"Just a lot on my mind Headmaster, that's all" he replied before finally putting some food on his plate and beginning to eat.

Once the Headmasters attention was drawn elsewhere Severus continued to look down at his newest charge. She had pushed her still half full plate away from her and seemed to be looking around the hall, taking everything in while everyone else was talking and laughing and getting to know each other. The people didn't seem to interest her and when she looked around she did so with her eyes only, her head staying in the one position, facing down.

She definitely seemed like an odd little girl and Severus was actually interested in getting to know her. Quite a feat for a small child to peak the interest of a man like Severus but there you had it. He was intrigued and he was going to get all the answers about her that he wanted by the time she left the castle for the last time in seven years.

Xxx

_Dear Diary, _

_I know that Cole told me not to keep a diary but I find that it helps so much to get everything off my chest. I find people aren't nearly as reliable to be telling my feelings to, much better to be writing them down. Perhaps I'll burn this book when it's full so no one can read my thoughts about this school and the people in it… _

_I don't think I like it here. There are far too many people for my liking, and all of them want to know who I am and where I come from. It's none of their damn business and I hope everything calms down over the next few days. Although I do suppose once people find out who I am… who my parents were, there will be more questions. Oh Merlin I hope not. I just want people to leave me alone. Why don't people understand that? _

_No instead they think that they can FIX me… I don't need fixing. I don't need people trying to get to know me so that they can go away all proud that they broke through to me. I don't want to give people that satisfaction. Cole said it would be better to make a few friends 'Everyone needs a few friends Brooky', well I don't agree with you Cole. Friends are for the weak. I don't need anyone and I don't plan on needing anyone in the future. _

'_You're only eleven Brooky, you'll make friends easily at this age' I realise what age I am but that doesn't mean that I WANT to make friends. No matter how easily they may come to me. I think I've already done a good job in scaring people away. Well perhaps not scaring them but they definitely don't think much of me so far. Just the way I like it. _

_Well I will just have to wait and see what the rest of the year has in store for me. I can't wait to go home though. To my own bed in my own room that no one can just walk into and possibly be touching my stuff. _

_My gosh the other girls in here are noisy! They won't stop giggling and going on about how excited they are to finally be here! Silly little twits. I hope they get over their excitement in the next ten minutes or so because I for one would like to get some sleep. _

_Should I just tell them to shut up? I don't suppose that would make a very nice impression but I never said I wanted to make one. Sigh. I guess I should just put this silly diary away and try to get some sleep. By the sounds of it they're going to be talking for hours about where they all come from and blood statuses and what not. Yippee. _

_Hope you enjoyed, I'd love to know what you think so far _


	3. Best Enemies Forever

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
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Thankyou to aliceAmnesia, ShelleySnape and Melrose553 for your awesome reviews!

everus walked into the class room in his usual fashion, more than aware that this class contained the one student he hadn't been able to keep off his mind. He turned around to face the class full of young bright students and give them his start of the year speech and not so welcoming welcome to potions. To his dismay she was sitting front and centre of his class. Thankfully she was too busy staring at her hands that were clasped together on her lap under her desk.

He began the class by testing on their knowledge of potions, always a sure fire way to wheedle out those who had not prepared for his class.

"Tell me, what would you get if you mixed sneezewort, lovage and scurvy-grass?" he asked abruptly catching them all off guard.

Most looked up at him dumbfounded other wore looks of thought and concentration and some looked frightened. These were the usual reactions and the ones he had been expecting. What he had not expected was boredom; which was all he saw when he looked at Brooklyn Innes. This irritated him and although he had not wanted to draw attention to her just yet he couldn't resist the chance to embarrass a student who thought they were above such things as potions.

"Well Miss Innes you look slightly bored, I'm assuming you know the answer and are waiting for me to ask you a harder one"

She looked up at him without turning her head, a look of slight annoyance on her childish face.

"A Confusing and Befuddlement Draught Sir" She answered before looking back down at her hands.

Severus was more than slightly annoyed that she had known the answer and denied him the chance to make an example out of her. At least she didn't stick her hand in the air and wave it around like a fool trying to prove how smart she was. Oh boy did those sorts annoy him.

"Well it appears that some of you did read your book before you got here, ten points to Slytherin Miss Innes, although it would do you well to look more interested next time"

Her eyes moved to his once more in acknowledgement that she had heard him, but once more she didn't move her head towards him and once more she looked straight back down at her hands once he was done.

Severus was irked. She was a strange child indeed. But it was still far too early to tell what sort of person she was. He shook his head of those thoughts and went back to teaching his class, making them all turn to the page about the Confusing and Befuddlement Draught. He set them all too reading and taking notes while he sat behind his desk, once more flicking through the folder containing the information on Brooklyn Innes.

He could have read it off by heart now but for some reason he kept turning back to it, thinking somehow he may have missed something that would explain the oddity before him. One day she had been there, one day! And she was a complete and utter mystery to him that he had already worked himself up into a frenzy to figure out!

He chanced a quick glance at her from over the folder. She looked bored and didn't even look like she was on the same page as anyone else. Severus' brow furrowed as he looked closer and noticed she wasn't even reading the same book as everyone else. She was reading the potions book for the sixth and seventh years. Where on Earth did she get that from and why was she reading it!

The bell rang to signal the end of class and he called out to them that their homework for the night was six inches on the properties of sneezewort and its effects on Confusing and Befuddlement Draughts.

"Miss Innes, a word if you please" he added, just as she was about to leave.

She stepped to the side to let everyone else pass her; although Severus got the feeling she was avoiding anyone touching her. She didn't seem to like being touched. Or looked at, or talked to. He shook his head. Utter mystery. What sort of eleven year old was like that?

"You wanted to talk to me Professor Snape?"

He looked up at her for a brief second and then moved his eyes back down to her folder which was still sitting open on his desk. Closing it slowly so as not to draw attention to it, Severus moved it to the side and pulled forward another book he had sitting on his desk; the advanced guide to potion making.

"I happened to notice Miss Innes that you were not doing what I asked the class to do today" He paused glancing up at her, waiting for the fear to come into her eyes or her hands to clasp together in stress, but he waited in vain.

There was only silence as she waited for him to continue talking. She didn't have anything to say, either she was in trouble or she wasn't she just wanted him to get to the point.

"Well, are you going to explain yourself?"

"I've always been interested in potions Sir, I just find the first grade potions slightly boring" she explained

He merely stared at her for a short while. Well if anything at least she was not a dunderhead. She obviously enjoyed the art of potions and was far beyond her level.

Could this be the excuse to spend time with her that he had been waiting for? This could allow him to spend time with her under the cover of teaching her extra curricula potions whilst really he would be getting to know the sort of person she was and figuring out how much of a danger she could be to herself and others in the coming years. She didn't seem dangerous but there was something about her that he could not quite put his finger on. She was definitely more intriguing to him than he cared to admit.

"So Miss Innes, you're bored already?" he drawled, not at all wanting her to know how pleased he was that she was not stupid.

"Unfortunately Sir, I hope I have not offended you, I do enjoy potions Sir, but I've covered all these at home Sir"

Severus pretended that this bit of information was insignificant to him. However he was pleased to note that she had actually had some experience in potion making at home. Her step-father must have taught her.

"Indeed, Miss Innes," he replied looking down at the book he held in his hands. He glanced back up at her, gouging her reaction to his, once more waiting for fear to shadow her pale face or widen her green eyes. But no, she appeared not to be scared of Severus Snape.

"Well, Miss Innes, I don't often do this but since you seem so bored I will set you a different task to your classmates"

He glanced up at her once more wanting to see some other emotion on her face. To his surprise she actually seemed to light up… slightly. She smiled at him at least.

"Thank you Sir, what would you like me to do instead?"

Severus flicked through the Guide to Advanced Potion Making, looking for a difficult potion. The sadistic and cruel side to him hoped that she failed and he could set her menial tasks like the rest of her classmates. However the academic and professor in him sincerely hoped that she was as good as she made out to be.

"I want ten inches on the properties of the Valerian root and its use in the Draught of Living Death"

She merely nodded and asked if that was all. He was about to send her out of the classroom when he stopped her.

"If you prove your worth with this assignment Miss Innes, I shall consider offering you some extra curricula classes for a trial period until I can establish how talented you really are, forgive me if I don't take your word for it"

She smirked at him and nodded "Of course Professor, I'd rather prove myself anyway" she replied before asking to be pardoned.

He let her go wondering if what he had just done was the right thing to do. There was no harm in it considering that she was apparently good at potions but he hoped this didn't backfire on him and she turned out to be some annoying little swat after all. Somehow he didn't think so but he still crossed his fingers.

_Dear Diary, _

_The first day of classes… Well lets just say that I was less than thrilled to be surrounded by my classmates for an entire day but by the time I had reached potions I think they had mostly got the picture that I didn't like any of them. Or at least didn't want to be sitting next to them. _

_I guess I kinda made friends with one girl but I'm not sure she altogether liked me. Oh well. Her name was Cadwyn Lewis, she seemed nice and she sat down next to me at dinner. Perhaps we will be friends. She's quiet enough and doesn't ask silly questions; actually she doesn't really talk much at all. I think I can deal with that. _

_Although I must say the best part of the day was Potions. Unfortunately only theory today but I have a chance to prove myself to Professor Snape already. First year work is after all sooo boring! But I get to do sixth year work and extra classes if I'm good enough; which I already know I am. The assignment he set me is ridiculously easy and I'll have it done by tomorrow night. Of course he thought it would be a challenge but I wasn't about to ask for anything harder. If this assignment gets me some extra lessons then I'm quite happy to impress him with such simple work… For now. He'll see how really good I am. _

_Haha I sound so… Sure of myself? Yes, very sure of myself. But I can't help that. There's no point doubting an ability that I already know I have. I wonder what someone would think if they ever read this. They'd most likely hate me but that doesn't bother me. If someone were ever nosy enough to read this I probably already hate them anyway. No loss there. _

_Wow today must have been really boring if I am resorting to talking about that. I think I'll go now. I have to write a letter to Cole and tell him all about my first day. Whoopee. I am sure he'll be thrilled. _

_Xxx_

It was a few nights later that Severus sat at his desk reading all the assignments for the first years. He was determined to get them out of the way before he went on to read Brooklyn's. It was something to look forward to; at least he hoped it was.

Finally he had exhausted his red ink on all the poor little first years that would be getting less then admirable marks and turned his quill to Brooklyn's assignment.

It was longer than he had asked for but not by much and the first thing he noticed was her handwriting. It was very old fashioned but nice to look at after reading all the tiny cramped writings of other students. It was very elegant for a first year. He shook his head wondering why on Earth he was admiring her handwriting when he should be reading what she wrote.

The whole assignment was brilliant but he had had a feeling that it would be. She had seemed confident when he had given it to her that she would be able to prove herself. The assignment almost seemed too easy for her, which was astonishing since most of his sixth year students were struggling with questions like these. He knew that he would have to reward her with her extra classes.

The next day he handed back all the assignments bar one – Brooklyn's. He was going to let her sweat it out for the class and he would give it back to her at the end. But when he looked over to her and she had noticed she hadn't been given hers she merely shrugged her shoulders and went on with her potion. Severus frowned at her lack of reaction. What sort of child was she?

She was sitting with Cadwyn Lewis and it seemed like they might have got a long but Brooklyn didn't seem much like talking unless it was to do with their potion. Severus watched as she reached over and helped Cadwyn with one of her ingredients and told her when and how to put it in her potion. It was a shortcut and Cadwyn was not sure whether she should be doing it. Uncertainty was written all over her face as she did what Brooklyn told her to. Once she realised that she had skipped a whole lot of stirring and was onto the next phase her potion she smiled and thanked Brooklyn for the tip.

Once the end of the class came he called Brooklyn back so that he could give her the good news.

"It appears you are as good as you make out to be" he said as he handed over her assignment with a large O in the corner, "This assignment would have gotten that mark in the NEWT exams"

"Thankyou Sir" she replied taking it off his hands and looking only briefly at it before putting it in her bag. Apparently she wasn't interested in whatever notes he had written on the side, "Was that all you wanted to talk to me about Sir?"

He frowned slightly. She knew damn well what he was going to say next and yet she was playing dumb. Or perhaps she didn't want to assume. He liked to think it was the latter.

"As it were I would like to offer you those extra classes" he said, once more looking for some sort of reaction. He received her slight smile in return and the soft glow of her eyes but that was all, "You are very accomplished in your written work but I've no doubt there is plenty you can learn about actually brewing potions"

"Of course Sir" she replied, "Thankyou"

"You first lesson will be tomorrow night at eight o'clock sharp" he said not looking at her this time and pretending to shuffle things around on his desk.

"I'll see you then Professor" she replied, taking this as her dismissal and leaving to go to dinner.

She had been gone no more than fifteen minutes when Severus decided to head out to dinner himself. He wasn't very hungry but he had missed lunch and he supposed that he should eat something.

His mind was lost on all sorts of things, namely the anomaly of Brooklyn Innes, when he heard her voice coming from an empty classroom. He stopped and peeked in through the slightly open door. She was not alone and stood with two other people. She was facing the door while the two boys in the room had their back to it. But he had a feeling he knew who they were.

"I hope you don't think that life here is going to be easy Innes" came the snide voice of Gryffindor first year Nathaniel Drake.

Brooklyn merely laughed at him. It was cold and cruel and nothing like what you would expect from an eleven year old girl.

"Do you think you scare me Drake?" she laughed, "Just because you happen to descend from the Clouds family doesn't mean that you're dangerous, and trust me when I say there's nothing you can do to hurt me"

"Is that so?" he replied taking a step closer to her.

Brooklyn smirked at him, "What are you doing to do Drake? Stun me?" she laughed again, "Or would you like your wing man to do it for you, that is why you brought him along right? In case you couldn't do it on your own"

This seemed to annoy Nathaniel and he walked forward and shoved Brooklyn into a table, "I don't need anyone to do anything for me" he said as he pushed her onto the floor, "You're life is going to be miserable as long as I'm here Innes"

She glared up at him but said nothing as he turned to walk away. He had barely taken another step when Brooklyn kicked him in the back of the foot and sent him flying to the ground. Quickly she darted up and punched the unsuspecting wing man, Azrael Pelletier, in the face before jumping over Nathaniel and leaving the room.

However she had to have the last word before walking out the door, "Yes Drake, my life shall be so miserable but so will yours, I promise you we'll be the best enemies ever"

Severus quickly darted out of the way before she got out the door and hid in a shadowy alcove. He watched her walk away, her head held high and had to hand it to her. She knew how to take care of herself. He peeked back into the room to see how the boys were fairing and watched as Nathaniel punched Azrael in the arm and told him to stop being such a little girl.

He walked away to dinner, his mind on Brooklyn and how well she had stuck up for herself. But not only that, he now had reason to worry about her. She may be able to take care of herself but Nathaniel Drake would never leave her alone. Not considering the feaude between their two families. The infamous Clouds and Blackwater feaude. He had only heard about it from other people but he got the gist of it. And now he was watching over a Blackwater. He hoped that he could prevent anything too serious from happening but from all he had heard the battle between the two families often got brutul.

At any rate they were only in their first year, how bad could things get now?

_Thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed :)_


	4. Just In Case

He heard a firm knock on the door and called for her to enter. It was Brooklyn's first private lesson and he was hoping this would not give him a headache. He knew that she sounded like she knew what she was talking about but that didn't mean her practical work was at the same standard as her written.

He watched her as she stepped in looking like she belonged there and the corridor outside was a windy and rainy street that she had just escaped. He had noticed that she didn't like the company of many people and when she could be alone she was more at ease, or when she was left alone, as people were still trying to talk to her. Cadwyn Lewis seemed to be the only one so far that had made any progress but he guessed that was because she herself was the quiet type.

He beckoned her towards the bench that stood a cauldron and lain out beside were the ingredients for a potion. He wanted her to first guess what sort of potion she would be making.

She could have laughed at what she saw splayed out in front of her. It was the ingredients for a forgetfulness potion. She had made one of these once hoping she could make Cole forget that he had been angry with her about something when she was about eight. Unfortunately she had not been able to slip it into his drink without his noticing. He had examined it afterwards telling her that she had made it perfect but she needed to work on her stealth. The whole ordeal had made him laugh and he had gotten over what he was angry at her about anyway. It was then that Brooklyn had realised that just because her original plan didn't work the way she had thought, there may be something else she could to work things to her advantage.

She looked up at her Professor who looked slightly worried about her. She of course had been thinking about the situation with Cole and was no doubt smiling stupidly to herself at the thought. She wiped the smile of her face.

"A forgetfulness potion" she stated looking down at the potion ingredients and not even bothering to check that she was right. She reached down to pick up the valerian roots and examine them noticing that they were damaged. She didn't want to sound like she knew it all because she was sure that a Potions master like Severus Snape would have noticed damaged ingredients but she thought perhaps maybe she should say something. Just in case.

"Sir, I'm sure you've noticed, but these roots are damaged" She said quietly, handing him the valerian roots.

He had to hide the smirk he felt growing across his face. She had picked that up much quicker than he had anticipated. She was very observant. He took the roots off her and threw them in a near by rubbish bin.

He nodded and encouraged her to look down at the rest of the ingredients. She looked down and examined them, picking them up, feeling them and smelling them to make sure that they were ok to use.

"The rest seem to be in good condition, Sir" she said, her head still down towards the table but her eyes moving up to look at him.

He nodded and was about to ask her another question when she answered it for him.

"Do you have any more Valerian Sir or are we going to replace it with something? Betony would work just as well"

He was astounded, but he had to remember that this was an easy assignment, especially if she was at a seventh grade level in her brewing as well as her writing.

After she had spoken she realised that she may have sounded patronising and foolish to be telling a potions master and her professor what would work well, "But of course you know that" she added feeling a little silly but not letting it get to her. She was there to show him her knowledge and to impress him. She hoped she was doing just that.

"We have Betony Miss Innes" he replied walking over to his store cupboard and getting it down for her and bringing it over.

The rest of the lesson went well enough, she was clearly as good as she had made out to be and clearly had had enough practice with brewing potions. She finished the potion in a record time and was efficient in cleaning up after herself and returning left over ingredients; all without being asked too.

He had to admit that he was impressed with her level of maturity and he wondered what kind of upbringing she had had. Was her step-father harsh and demanded an exceptional level of brilliance in everything she did or did she develop this maturity on her own?

He took time whilst she was working on the potions to notice many things about her appearance and demeanour. She didn't wear makeup, although that could change in the coming years, she was after all only eleven. She had pulled her hair up into a pony tail for the lesson but he had noticed she mostly wore it down when she was not in class. Her clothes were well tailored and looked expensive, her nails, although small and childish were well manicured. Her skin was that of a child, clear and smooth looking. She stood tall and didn't hunch her shoulders like so many of the children these days, but she did keep her head down a lot.

She didn't really have any quirks that he could pick out but he looked for them. With a lot of people, and especially he noticed in female brewers, they had a tendency to bite their lips, but she did no such thing. She didn't curl her hair in her fingers she didn't stick out her tongue or tilt her head or any other gesture when she stood to think about what she had to do next. The only thing he could see that may even be taken to be a quirk was the way her eyes would squint slightly and then widen considerably when she appeared to be thinking.

It was going to take some time to figure out exactly what kind of person she was or would become and at such a young age he couldn't possibly hope to know anything about the woman she would one day be. But he hoped after knowing her for seven years he would have some inkling as to whether he should be worried about her or worried for those around her.

He had heard far too much about the Blackwater and Clouds feud and he knew how ferocious and bloody that path could and most likely would be. But perhaps if they had a good enough student/professor relationship she might be persuaded away from it by him. He only hoped that he had that much pull over her by the time it became such a reality.

Other then the feud he had noticed of course that she did not seem to like people in the slightest. She was respectful to her professors and she was not unnecessarily mean to anyone in particular but she had little time for the people around her. Only Cadwyn Lewis seemed able to sit next to her in class and even then they didn't talk much, however he got the feeling that they both preferred it that way.

Over the coming months he watched her very carefully, wondering if perhaps she would come out of her shell a bit more; perhaps take more to the people around her. But she didn't look like she was ever going to have many friends and it didn't seem to bother her so he didn't worry about it. He too had never liked too many people although he had secretly wanted just that bit of extra attention from the people around him. He had wanted to be more popular in school and he wondered if she would perhaps feel the same way or if she already did but didn't know how to act around people… He got the feeling though that she was quite content without people talking to her or trying to be her friend.

She stayed out of trouble and very rarely called attention to herself in class, speaking only if asked to. Other professors had also taken notice of her odd ways and Minerva had even questioned Severus about it wondering if perhaps there was something going wrong at home. Severus assured her that Brooklyn was just the way she was. There was nothing going on at least Severus never got the feeling that there was a problem there. If anything she seemed like she would rather be at home.

The only time that she ever could have gotten in trouble was of course an incident revolving around her natural enemy Nathaniel Drake. Everything about him annoyed her and he knew it. He would always try and get reaction out of her and she usually stayed quite calm when he started on her but on one occasion she just had to react, and unfortunately Minerva had to be the one to walk in on it.

Nathaniel had shoved her over in the corridors on the way to the Great Hall for dinner. She had not given it much more thought and would have let it slide if he hadn't of started talking about her good for nothing parents. The things that came out of his mouth were all centred on her parent's misdeeds in the name of the Dark Lord.

Her wand was out within seconds of them reaching the Great Hall and just before Nathaniel and his group of rowdy friends could enter she had hexed them all and tied them together in a big rope. Unfortunately for her Professor McGonagall had been not too far behind them. She had not heard everything that her precious little lions had been saying and only saw what the vicious little viper had done.

She had received detention for her appalling actions and been docked fifty points. Brooklyn merely nodded and walked away into the Great Hall wondering if perhaps she would be given a talking to by Professor Snape.

As it was she ended up there for her detention that night and she wondered what he would have her do. She had no problem with authority and she wouldn't take back what she had done just to save herself a few hours of detention.

Severus had decided that she would be cleaning out cauldrons for her detention. However before she started he wanted to find out exactly why she would attack those boys without any prior warning or reason. Minerva had said that she had just attacked and there seemed to be no reason for it, but that didn't make sense to Severus. He may not have known her for long but he had the distinct feeling that she would not have done so unless she was provoked. When Minerva had questioned her about it however she had not made any excuses and merely accepted her detention, which struck him as odd. Most students and especially his Slytherins would think of anything to get out of a detention no matter how much they lied. But then most Slytherins wouldn't attack someone so obviously.

He heard her firm knock on the door and knew it was her. Beckoning her to come in, he told her to sit in the seat in front of him intent on getting the reason for her misbehaviour.

He watched her as she walked in and took her seat, noticing that she did not appear nervous or even annoyed to be here for detention. She looked down at her hands, her head facing down as her hands wrapped around one another. But this was not done in a nervous kind of way. She merely seemed bored.

"So Miss Innes would you care to explain your behaviour?" he started looking down at her.

She looked up him with her eyes only and didn't look like she was going to answer him at all nor like she_ wanted _to talk about it at all. He frowned and was on the verge of asking her again in a much more forceful way when she looked down and sighed.

"It was ridiculous Sir and I shouldn't have reacted. It doesn't matter why I did it, I did it and I would just like to get this detention over and done with"

He stared down at her with a frown still plastered on his face. He was not accustomed to people, least of all students, telling him that it didn't matter. It mattered as long as he said it did and he had asked her a question. What didn't matter was that her response had triggered his usual reaction towards her, that of intense curiosity.

"Miss Innes it is for me to decide what is important and what isn't, now you will tell me why you behaved as such" he demanded

She stared up at him with her customary glare that she normally reserved for her dim-witted peers. He didn't like being on the receiving end of it at all and was about to reprimand her for it when once again she sighed and looked down at her hands.

"Professor I am sure you're aware of the feud between Nathaniel Drake's family and my own" she started looking up at him for acknowledgement and receiving a nod in return. "Well as we were walking towards the Great Hall tonight he decided to push past me but this was nothing, and nothing would have come of it if it weren't for the remarks afterwards" she paused and frowned down at her hands. She looked frustrated but not with Drake. She seemed more frustrated with herself. What could possibly have such a young child looking so disappointed and angry with themselves?

"He spoke about my parents Sir, and I didn't like what he was saying. I reacted when I should have ignored him Sir"

'That explained it' he thought. He had never thought about how she must feel about her parents, never having gotten the chance to know them beyond what people told her. He wondered if her step-father had given her a romanticised version of them or if he had told her the truth. Severus had a feeling that Brooklyn would see under any sugar coated theory about them but he had to remind himself that she was young and she might possibly believe that they were wrongly accused and were nice people.

Severus merely nodded and began the detention.

Things calmed down after that and Brooklyn was not caught doing anything of that nature ever again. She had learnt that if she was going to behave like that it was going to be done subtly and without repercussions. She would not be caught.

Everything regarding her seemed normal; aside from the fact that she was not a normal girl. However it was normal for her and Severus found himself warming to her after a short month in her company. As far a children went she was bearable and he admired her maturity; not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

All seemed to be going well in life, as well as it could go when you were working with snot-nosed little twats. That was until Halloween.

It was a night that Severus would forever remember. There was no forgetting it, no pushing it to the back of his memory. Halloween, although he didn't particular like the holiday to begin with, would forever be destroyed. He would remember her every Halloween and with remembering her he would remember how he had lost her.

He retreated from anyone and everyone that tried to console him. Of course the only people who had really known of his close relationship with Lily Evans were Dumbledore and Minerva, but after initially trying to comfort him, they both knew better than to approach him.

He cancelled his lessons with Brooklyn for the rest of the year because he had not wanted to deal with her. The constant reminder she would be provide was most unwelcome and he found himself lashing out at her during classes. He stopped giving her extra work and made her work at the same level as the other students. He knew he was being unfair but she would just have to deal with it. She was eleven, she would get over it.

Unfortunately this gave him little opportunity to get to know her but again he consoled himself with the knowledge that she was only eleven and the person she would become was yet to be seen.

The rest of the year seemed to pass by rather quickly for Brooklyn. She had noticed her potions master's sour moods and decided she would rather ignore him than ask him what the hell the matter with him was. It was none of her business anyway.

She spent more time thinking about how much she truly hated Nathaniel Drake. She had never met a more ignorant, arrogant jerk. There had been a few minor incidents with him as the school year progressed but they were nothing that she couldn't handle on her own. She didn't need a professor to go butting into their feud.

She was still friends with Cadwyn, although their friendship stayed much the same, silent. Brooklyn never had anything to say unless it was to do with school work and Cadwyn had never tried to talk to her about anything else. The friendship was easy, well for Brooklyn anyway, she had no idea how Cadwyn felt about it. She didn't particularly care either.

_Dear Diary, _

_Finally it's the last night in this stupid castle! I can't wait to get home and not be surrounded by people. Everything will be so much easier to concentrate on once I'm not surrounded by these twits. Arrggghhhh and that stupid boy! I honestly could kill Nathaniel Drake. He is the most infuriating person I have ever come across! No wonder our families hate each other if his are filled with idiots like that. _

_Although I must admit that Edie Drake hasn't been quite so annoying; she's actually never spoken a word to me. I wonder if she's just happier letting her brother be the bully… She doesn't seem like a mean person. If it came down to me and her I'd win… _

_I don't know why I think like that. I mean, I know that someday Nathaniel and I are going to duel, and possibly to the death, but it's almost like I don't mind; as if it's inevitable when it might not be. I don't know how I feel. Cole has always told me everything to do with the family feud, never hidden anything from me. Meh. _

_The thing that's kinda annoyed me lately though is Professor Snape. It was like he just snapped one day and went psycho. I'm so annoyed that I have to do the same work as all the other kids, its sooooo boring! And I was actually happy with the extra classes. _

_Before he snapped I always wondered why everyone had so much against him. I know he's not the nicest person but he's not that bad. There are worse people out there… My parents were some of them. But now he's horrible. I don't even have to do anything and he's angry at me for something. He snapped at me the other day because I took a short cut in a potion. He showed me the bloody shortcut! I don't understand what the hell has gotten into him but it must be pretty bad since it's lasted almost all year. I hope he's over it by the time that I get back next year. _

_I better be off though, actually I better burn this book. If Cole ever found out I had written one he would be angry. I don't know why he's so against a diary but I don't really care either. It's not like he would ever see it, I'm not stupid enough to leave it lying around. Oh well, better burn it, just in case. _

_Well hope you enjoyed that but whether you did or not, let me know what you think. _


	5. Another Year

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Thanks to all the reviews so far they make me smile So this is kind of a filler chapter so nothing too exciting but I would still love to hear your thoughts on Brooklyn's character, do we like, do we not like? Thanks for reading. **

He had spent the better part of the summer holidays brooding away in his home. It was the worst summer he had ever had and that was saying something considering what he used to endure living with his parents.

But they didn't hold a candle to the pain he felt at having lost Lily, and now even close to a year later, the pain was still fresh and still stung just as much as if it had just happened. He had thought after some time and a few bottles of Firewhiskey a night, the pain may have dulled a little. But it hadn't. And it wasn't just losing her to the thin veils of the afterlife it was the years just before that caused him the most pain. She would never truly know how he had felt about her he would never be able to try just one more time to win back her affection, if only for her friendship. She would never know the price he paid or the danger he put himself in to try and save not only her life but that of her husband and child, the former of which he despised and the latter of which he knew he would come to hate on principle.

He had lost more than her physical life. The fact that she was no longer living just brought home every other feeling he had ever felt about her when she was living. And now, they were meaningless because he could no longer act upon them. What did it matter that her son still lived? He didn't want to protect the little whelp anymore than he had wanted to protect James Potter the night he made his deal with Dumbledore. He had only ever cared about Lily; and would only ever care about her. But he knew despite that that he would take care of her child. He knew that Dumbledore was giving him a chance to redeem himself. Severus knew it was his fault that the Potters had been killed. If he had not been so stupid and naïve then he never would have got involved with Voldemort in the first place and he never would have passed on the message that ultimately ended their lives.

So he would protect Harry Potter in the future, if only to prove his love for Lily. He could try and comfort himself with the image of her watching over and seeing his grief and seeing the efforts he would put in to protect her son, but it didn't provide enough comfort to get him through that first year; not nearly enough.

It was with a heavy heart that Severus returned to Hogwarts for the year. He had no desire to be there or to see anyone. In particular he had no desire to see his latest charge Brooklyn Innes. She would be in her second year now and he wondered if the time over the summer had changed her at all. But it didn't matter. He knew that she would still be the same painful reminder that she was last year.

He knew that he had been unfair to her in the last year but also that she would get over it in time. He was not a fair person in general and the sooner everyone realised that the better off they would be. If Severus was to get close to her in any fashion she would have to learn it particularly fast. He knew he would have to resume her extra classes and get back to work on getting to know her but that didn't mean that he wanted to. And there was always the possibility of getting to know her from a distance. Not as effective for the mission he was trying to accomplish but it might be easier for him to do so.

When he did finally see Brooklyn again it appeared that she had not changed at all. Nothing had changed. She still sat in the same place as always and she still sat with Cadwyn Lewis and they still didn't say much to each other. Her hair and eyes were the same, the way she kept her head down was the same, and the way she glared at Nathaniel Drake and his friends was the same. He didn't know why this all irked him. What had he expected to change? One summer didn't change much about a person especially not between the ages of eleven to twelve. He guessed that because something monumental had happened in his life in the last year and because he had spent all summer thinking about how much had changed, that he had expected everything else to be different. How could anything be the same? Didn't these people realise that Lily Evans had been taken from the world? Did they notice how much darker the world was now that the sunshine she provided had been eclipsed?

But then he had to remember… The world must have seemed brighter to everyone else. The Dark Lord had fallen and the heavy darkness that had settled over the wizarding world had been lifted letting in the rays of light that promised safety and peace. He was glad for the disappearance of that monster too, but the light everyone else saw was so much dimmer to him. Always would be.

With much trepidation Severus found himself calling for Brooklyn Innes three days after the start of term to re-offer the extra classes. Perhaps it would give him something to focus on other than the utter misery and self hatred he was so wrapped up in.

He had not spoken a word to her since the end of the last school year and he was sure that he had been quite rude the last time they had spoken. He was not going to seek her forgiveness, rather go on like nothing had changed. It was none of her business why he had been so rude the last year.

He finally heard her firm knock on the door and called for her to come in noticing that she still gave off the same effect of having walked in off a crowded and windy street. She seemed somewhat calmer when she had closed the door behind her and sat down in the seat provided.

"Good evening Miss Innes" he said as he looked back down at whatever he had been reading before she walked in, though he was no more concentrated on it then he was before.

"Good evening Professor" she responded

He pretended to finish up what he was reading and gently pushed it to the side, slowly moving to look across at the young girl across the desk. She was looking down at her hands and when he finally spoke she looked up with her eyes to acknowledge that she was listening but still kept her head down. He had always wondered why she did this, why she didn't seem to like moving her whole body when engaged in conversation. But he didn't have time to think about that now.

"I have decided to offer you, once more the extra lessons we began at the beginning of your first year that is if you wish to continue them"

To his surprise she did not jump at the opportunity like she had originally. She looked suspicious of his offer for some reason and he couldn't pick why that was. After some time when he had not received an answer he became frustrated. Well if she didn't bloody want them she could get out of his office now.

Just as he was about to voice his anger she spoke, the suspicion in her eyes never fading, "I would of course love the chance to learn more from you Professor" she responded before looking thoughtfully back down at her hands.

There was a 'but' coming and he knew it. She was wondering about something and now Severus was wondering what she wondering about… He shook his head.

"But?"

She looked back up at him the same expression on her childish face, "But I had the impression you no longer wanted to teach me" she finished this time keeping her eyes up.

Severus grimaced. He had not changed his mind about not telling her what had happened the year before and about why he had been so rude and unfair to her. She would just have to deal with that.

"Well, I am offering them now so if I were you I would assume that I do wish to continue teaching you" he replied in an irritated voice, "Now do you wish to continue them or not?" he finished with gritted teeth.

To his surprise a cheeky grin flashed across her lips. She had been looking right at him at the time and it looked almost sinister with the way her head was faced down and her eyes looked up. It was gone as soon as it had appeared and he couldn't help the instant curiosity that ran through him like fire.

"I would love to Sir when did you wish for my first lesson to take place?" she responded.

"Tomorrow night, eight o'clock sharp, do not be late Miss Innes, I will be testing you on something quite difficult" he said, looking back down at his desk and pretending to be busy shuffling around papers.

She took this as her dismissal and left the room with a thankyou and nothing more.

Once the door had closed behind her Severus couldn't help the snarl than ripped out of him. She was such an infuriating child! If there was ever a reason he didn't want to have children that would be it. Nothing about her seemed …. Right. She didn't give anything away about how she was feeling or what she was thinking. It had not even occurred to him to use legilimancy on her. Most children that age wore their emotions quite prominently but not her. All she managed to convey was disdain for her peers and he had the feeling that she was only going to get better at hiding her feelings.

He sighed. He was not sure there was much he could do about that considering that he was very much the same kind of person. His feelings were his alone and they were nobody else's business. If she wanted to keep hers to herself then so be it. He would not try and change that. But he still had to try and understand her. Or at least get a picture for the type of person that she was.

Christmas came so quickly that year and he was not sure whether he was happy or not to be going home. It seemed that most children were going home to their parents, including Brooklyn Innes.

He knew that she lived near him, but hopefully he would not run into her. He had never run into her before and he did not see any reason for that to change and besides, she didn't seem like the type of person that spent her days outdoors. She would most likely be doing her homework and sitting in her room away from people. This made him smile for some reason and in some bizarre twist in his mind he found himself hoping that his children would be like that. He didn't know where that had come from but the thought had presented itself before he could push it away. He certainly did not want to have children… He knew that and no person was ever going to change that about him. It was just a stupid thought.

Either way, he knew that his Christmas would be as lonely as most of his were and just as bad as his last had been. He couldn't believe that his pain had not dulled enough in the time since he had lost Lily. Everything reminded him of her and in particular he had noticed it in Brooklyn. And aside from her looks she held nothing in common with Lily. Lily was sweet and caring and Brooklyn was… acerbic and selfish. Lily loved attention and she smiled all the time, Brooklyn hated people and she smiled only when she got one over Nathaniel Drake or one more of his dim-witted friends.

There were too many differences between the two but somehow she still managed to remind him of Lily. He supposed it was the strong link he had drawn between the two when he had first been charged with Brooklyn's protection. He had made the link between the two very different people in his own mind and now he couldn't escape it. He would just have to learn how to deal with it and hope that one day he would stop making such a connection between his dear sweet Lily and the mysterious and shadowy Brooklyn Innes.

"Miss Innes do you have any idea what you are doing?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Of course I do Professor" she replied, ignoring his acid tongue and continuing with her potion as if he had not asked her a question.

"What is this?" he continued on, tempted to take the stirrer out of her hands and vanish the entire contents of her potion.

They were nearing the end of the year and she was in her last potions lesson for the year. He had found in the time he had had with her throughout the year that she was once again growing on him. They shared an odd comfort in one another that neither of them could explain and neither of them ever commented on. She was the oddest and yet most brilliant child he had ever come across and she voiced the strangest ideas in regards to her potions and Severus, though he spurned her at the time, quickly found himself pursuing her ideas when he had time to himself.

At the present time they were in the middle of brewing a particularly large batch of a rare medicinal potion, used to cure a rare condition that had broken out all over the school. It looked at first sight to be nothing but the common flu but quickly turned nasty. They had already sent two students to St Mungos for further help. He had set to work on the potion as soon as Madame Pomfrey had recognised what she was dealing with and once it had spread so far across the school, Severus had decided to enlist Brooklyn's help to brew.

They had nearly finished when Severus had looked into her cauldron and noticed that she was stirring in a completely unnecessary ingredient and that her potion, rather than being clear like it should be at that stage of the potion was rather tinged pink and Severus could not utter with enough passion, his hate for that colour.

"This is the potion you asked me to brew Sir, it just looks a little different" she replied not bothering to tell him what she had added or why.

"What have you put in it Brooklyn?" he said through gritted teeth, standing over her

He could see her smirking to herself and this only served to irritate him further. He waited until she had finished stirring and stopped her, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her to face him.

He thought he might have scared her with his abrupt and very rough movements but she didn't seem perturbed by his actions. She merely raised an eyebrow at him in question.

"Echinacea, Sir" she replied looking annoyed at having been stopped.

He looked down at her not quite having figured out what to say to her. It was a brilliant idea considering the healing qualities in the plant and the effect it had on the length of the symptoms. But he wasn't going to tell her that.

"And you thought you would just add it without first telling me?" he said, still not having let go of her shoulders.

She had tilted her head down and was looking up at him in her usual manner. She didn't look like she regretted her actions at all or like she was about to say sorry for them.

"Do you see a problem with that ingredient Sir?" she asked knowing he would have nothing to say as she had already thought of every possibly outcome to adding the ingredient and she knew that it would not effect the potion in a negative way. She was tempted to smirk up at him like she had smirked before but didn't particularly feel like incurring his wrath. She just wanted to finish brewing so she could pack her bags ready for the trip home in a few days.

He could have strangled the little smart ass! She knew very well there was nothing wrong and that he would have nothing to say to that. He scowled at her and merely turned on his heel, saying as he went that if she ever added another ingredient without his permission that he would cancel her classes. This was of course a lie but he had to say something.

She smirked again and turned back to the potion. She loved it when she was right.

_Dear Diary, _

_Another year gone, thank Merlin! I can't wait to be back in the privacy of my own home with no one to bother but Cole. At least Coles knows that I don't really like his company, but I would rather to that of anyone here at Hogwarts, except of course Professor Snape. _

_I must have said it a thousand times this year already but we do have some weird… I don't know what to call it but the point is we understand each other and we know when to say something and when not to. Am I making sense? I hope so… I know what I mean anyway. And I can't help but notice that I am… Well not happy but I'm not as hateful when I am around him. Perhaps it's because he's not some stupid kid with no brains. He's an adult and I respect him I guess. Gosh I sound like some silly little swat. But I would rather be making potions with Professor Snape then sitting and gossiping about boys or other girls with a bunch of self engrossed chits. _

_I truly hate almost every other person in my year. They're either too happy or too stupid or in the case of Nathaniel Drake, my natural enemy. The person that has really managed to get on my nerves this year is Edie Drake though. She's never nasty to me. She's never done anything to hurt me and yet I hate her for that reason. Why can't she be more like her brother? I could deal with her more if I knew where she stood but I have no idea. What if one day she just snaps and kills me? I won't see it coming. Sigh. _

_Well I guess I should get some sleep, all these girls are going to be up talking all night about how they have to get in contact over the summer… They just spent the whole year together why do they need to catch up over the summer? I don't go up to Cadwyn and try and arrange anything with her and I most likely never will. We're not really that kind of friends… To be honest I don't think we're really friends at all, but I don't mind her company and I suppose she doesn't mind mine… Ah well. _


	6. Shortcomings of Being Human

The day had started out like any other during the holidays. But it had certainly not ended that way. It was the summer before she was due to start her third year at Hogwarts and she had just been down to the river near Spinners End talking to Bryce

She had been with Bryce all day, catching up after the long school year. She didn't know why she still talked to him. She didn't like him anymore that anyone else she had met, but she had known him for so long. She supposed that it was out of habit more than a need for human contact. As far as she was concerned she got enough of that when she was at Hogwarts.

Bryce was different to the people at Hogwarts though. He was a muggle for one, but he just seemed much older than anyone she had ever met at her school. He _was _two years old than her anyway but there was something about him that screamed maturity and she liked that; but not that much. He was still a human prone to all the annoying shortcomings of being human.

She had known him for almost her whole life. They had only really started talking when she was about seven, he nine, but they had had run-ins before then. One day they just started meeting at the park and their friendship went from there. But she had never told him about her life as a witch. His life seemed so boring compared to hers but then he didn't really know what he was missing out on.

Bryce was from a wealthy family and he had always had the best of everything. It was also fair to say that he was a good looking boy. Brooklyn had never really thought about him that way but she was thirteen going on fourteen and she supposed it was only natural to start noticing things like how attractive the opposite sex was. But she would never be interested in him that way. Yes he was good looking but that was as far as her affections would stretch. She didn't have the time or patience for boys or relationships.

He was the only person that she had ever voiced her opinions too. She knew that he had no idea about her world and that nothing she said about anyone in her world would get back to them via Bryce. So she felt more comfortable complaining about all the stupid people she had met since going away to her school. She had also the previous year complained about Professor Snape and what an arse he was being.

"So that teacher still giving you trouble?" he had asked as he tried to skip rocks across the water.

"Not any more"

"Well that's good. I wonder what his problem was"

"I don't know, but I'm not about to ask him. He's not the sort of person you talk to about his personal life"

Bryce stopped trying to skip rocks and came and sat next to her. "Well I guess all teachers are like that. But he could have apologised for picking on you… Don't the other teachers or the principle say anything? I mean is he like that with all students?"

Brooklyn frowned. She didn't think there was any need for any of the other professor of Hogwarts to complain about Professor Snape. He was a jerk that was for sure but she liked him like that. And he was good at what he did. He knew what he was talking about and Brooklyn respected him for it.

"He's a hard teacher but you just have to learn to deal with him, really he's not that bad" she replied

"Fair enough" Bryce stood once more and starting snapping twigs on the ground surrounding them, the boy just couldn't sit still.

He had told her all about his school and the friends he had made. Brooklyn didn't think she would like any of them by the sounds of them; they all sounded dumb and immature. But there was one girl, Brooklyn noticed, that he spent a lot of time talking about, her name was Crystal. She sounded typically good looking – blonde hair, blue eyes, clear skin, athletic body etc… She also sounded like a bimbo but Brooklyn didn't say that. If it were anyone else she would have said it but for some reason she held her tongue more when she was around Bryce.

"So do you like her?" She had asked after he had told her for the fifth time that she was the friendliest girl in school, 'Yes I bet she's friendly' Brooklyn had thought.

He didn't answer her straight away but she knew he was thinking about it; so typical of him. He thought through every little decision like it would affect the rest of his life. He bit into the chocolate bar he had just opened and then offered her some. She took it off him and took a bite, refusing to give it back until he had answered her.

"Well I don't know I don't know her that well" he replied looking out across the park.

Brooklyn merely nodded and looked over the river at Spinners End. It was an awful area to live in and she didn't understand why they didn't do something about it. Or how anyone could still live there anyway. She supposed that the rent must be cheap.

"So what about you Brook, find anyone worth asking out?"

She turned her eyes towards Bryce and glared at him. He knew very well she didn't like people and there was nil chance that she had found anyone worth her time and energy. She didn't understand what the big hurry was for people to find love at such a young age. And really it wasn't love anyway. It was an excuse for boys and girls to grope each other and look like they were mature adults in relationships. She knew how that looked to the real adults.

He laughed at the look on her face, "You really hate people don't you?" he asked.

She didn't answer him as he already knew the answer to that. Yes she did hate people, she truly did.

He walked over to her and sat down beside her again, "You know someday you're going to want someone, a boyfriend"

Her lips thinned and she didn't respond. He was going to give the same speech that Cole would give about her needing someone someday. She didn't particularly want to hear it. She hated it when Cole brought up the fact that she didn't have many friends – as if this was supposed to upset her.

"I know you don't think so Brook and I don't know why you feel the need to do everything on your own but you're not going to be alone you're whole life, just saying, someday you will want to be with someone"

"Are you done?" she finally snapped.

He smiled a cheeky smile at her knowing he had pissed her off but not caring. She rolled her eyes at him and stood to go home. She was not in the mood for him now. He didn't try and stop her merely shouted after her that he would meet her by the river the next day.

As she walked she thought about what Bryce had said to her and wondered why he had brought it up. She was still only thirteen for Merlin's sake! Why was it such a big deal that she didn't want a boyfriend? She walked on so annoyed that she reached her house without much memory of how she had got there so fast.

It was later than she was used to getting home but Bryce had been busy that morning and they had met later then they would have done. The sun was nearly down when she pushed open the front door and stepped inside.

She half expected Cole to say something about how late she was but he didn't. He looked up at her from his place on the couch and Brooklyn could immediately tell something was not right. His eyes were bloodshot and drooping and he had a ridiculous smile on his face as he looked up at her.

"Brooky you're home" he slurred at her.

He had been drinking and the three empty bottles of Firewhiskey sitting on the table in front of him confirmed that. She looked at him in disgust, never had he gotten drunk in front of her. She was not naïve enough to think that he never drunk but if he did he had always kept it away from her; apparently not anymore.

She raised an eyebrow at him and then rolled her eyes when he continued to smile stupidly at her. She began walking past him towards her room but he called for her to stop and talk to him.

"Cole I don't want to talk to you while you're drunk, if you want to talk let me get you a sober-up potion" she responded before trying to walk away again.

"Brooky, please come back here"

She sighed exasperatedly and turned around to walk back to him, "What do you want Cole?" she asked irritated.

He beckoned her forward to sit next to him on the couch. She took a few steps towards him but didn't sit. He reached out for her to pull her down but she smacked his hands away, "I don't want to sit down Cole, now what do you want?" she snapped.

He reached out for her again but with less energy. Eventually he gave up trying to get her to sit down.

"Brooky, brookly… You've grown up so much so … so quickly" he mumbled.

She rolled her eyes once more. She didn't want some sentimental conversation about how far they had come together, Merlin what a pain he was when he was drunk. But she knew if she didn't let him talk he would keep trying; better to let him get it out of his system.

He brought a fourth bottle to his lips and Brooklyn tried to take it off him but he was much quicker than she had anticipated. He pulled the bottle out of her reach and in the same movement grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto the couch to sit next to him. Brooklyn grumbled at having been bested but she sat quietly while he took another swig of Firewhiskey and started talking again.

"Evalyn, was so beautiful, you're so much like her Brooky" he hiccoughed and then belched loudly.

Brooklyn screwed up her face in disgust, his breath smelt horrible. She didn't understand how so many people had drunken one night stands. People were so unattractive when they were wasted.

He took another swig and then another and then downed the rest of the bottle. Brooklyn couldn't believe how quickly the bottle disappeared. It was full when she had walked into the room. He turned on the couch to face her properly and didn't seem to notice as she leaned away from him. Merlin she just wanted him to finish his sentimental speech so she could go and get him a potion and then go to bed.

"Evalyn you are so beautiful" he whispered.

"Did you just call me Evalyn?"

He leaned forwards and tried to hug her but she pushed him away, she had had enough of his drunken slur. But he grabbed her before she could leave.

"For Merlin's sake Cole, you're a drunken idiot and I am going to get you a potion, stay here, I'll be back" she snapped at him and once more made to stand and leave.

He grabbed her hand and yanked so hard she fell over onto him. He held her on his lap and leaned his head on her shoulder as he hugged her.

"You know I love you Evalyn, you know I do" he muttered into her shoulder.

"Stop calling me Evalyn!" she yelled trying to push away from him. He was the most annoying person when he was drunk! She didn't know why but it angered her so much to be called by her mother's name.

But something happened that she had not at all been anticipating. He threw her down on the couch and covered her body with his own in a very awkward hug. If that wasn't awkward enough he started crying into her shoulder.

"Why me?" she muttered to herself. She hated dealing with other people's emotions, especially someone she couldn't just ignore.

"Why do you want to leave me Eva, why? I love you, you know I love you" he sobbed.

"Cole, sit up!"

"No Evalyn, I love you" he whimpered pulling his head up to look at her.

She looked at him with disgust once more and couldn't believe that he had let himself get into such a state. He had always given her lectures on properly presenting yourself to others and on being a pureblood witch and all the other aristocratic crap. And yet here he was being as improper as it was possible to be.

His eyes were red and puffy but he finally seemed to have stopped crying as he looked down at her. He freed a hand from underneath himself and pushed back a strand of hair from Brooklyn's face.

"You're so beautiful Evalyn" he whispered to her.

Brooklyn glared up at him but this seemed not to perturb him as he leaned down and pushed his lips to hers…

.xxx

Severus couldn't say that he was happy to be back at Hogwarts teaching snot nosed little brats how to brew potions when most of them couldn't get their minds around the basic concepts but he knew it was better than doing nothing… He supposed.

He knew there was at least one student whom he would look forward to teaching. He couldn't deny that he had missed her company over the summer although he had enjoyed the time alone. Even so, he had worked on a few ideas over the summer that he actually wanted to share with her, considering he got many of his ideas from things she had said.

He again wondered if anything had changed about her over the summer. Whether she had cut her hair or started wearing makeup or perhaps somehow made a new friend and was suddenly a happier and nicer person… He could have laughed at the last thought. He didn't think Brooklyn was likely to change in that matter. She would always have a strong dislike for humanity.

When she walked into the hall for the start of term feast there was indeed something different about her. Nothing in her looks that he could tell but something about her demeanour that had changed. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but he knew that he didn't like it at all.

She sat at the end of her table like she always did and was once more accompanied by Cadwyn Lewis although she seemed to shrug away from even her. Severus frowned and vowed to find out what was wrong with her. Perhaps something had happened on the way to Hogwarts; something to do with Nathaniel Drake perhaps? It wouldn't surprise him but at the same time it didn't seem right that he could do anything to make her that upset, normally she was just angry. There was something more than anger behind her eyes and it wasn't her usual contempt for the people around her.

He shook his head knowing he would never figure it out until he had talked to her. He needed to figure out when he could call her for a potions lesson; perhaps the very next night.

To his luck he had third year potions the very next day, a double at the end of the day. He hadn't seen her at breakfast or lunch and wondered if she had been to any of her classes that day. When he questioned Minerva about it she said Brooklyn had been in her class and acted a little strangely to what she normally acted like.

Finally double potions came along and Severus was happy to see that she still sat front and centre of his class. Good that had not changed. He got the class started on their work and sat behind his desk to organise his first potions class with Brooklyn for hopefully that night. He looked over to her and noticed that something was actually different about her appearance. She appeared to be wearing makeup for one, a minimal amount around her eyes and something on her lips. She had done nothing to change her pale skin though and Severus was happy about that. He hated young girls that felt the need to cover their entire face in that muck.

He also noticed that she looked considerably tired for the first day of classes. Perhaps she had not slept well last night…

He continued to peek over at her, trying to figure out what it was about her that had changed but he just couldn't pick it. She was focusing on her potion like she always did and she was ahead like she always was. He noticed though, that she and Cadwyn had not spoken a word to each other. They generally never said much but they hadn't even said hello to each other when they sat down. He wondered what that was all about. Finally though Cadwyn said something and that was when Brooklyn snapped.

"Look, I don't give a crap about who you like and what you did over the summer. You've never wanted to talk much before why now do you all of a sudden want to act like a stupid little girl that gossips all day about boys and makeup and other useless and meaningless things?"

She hadn't said it that loudly so it had not stopped the class but when Cadwyn stood and grabbed her things that got everyone's attention.

"I was just trying to be friendly, and in case you hadn't noticed, we are little girls, we're supposed to be acting like that"

Brooklyn merely glared at her as she walked away and asked to sit down next to another girl from their house. It was the most he had ever heard come out of Cadwyn's mouth but it wasn't her he was focusing on. His attention was on Brooklyn, who had turned back to her potion looking, of all things, relieved.

"Knew you'd end up alone eventually Innes, just a matter of time before you threw away the only person that could stand to be near you"

Brooklyn merely rolled her eyes at Nathaniel's remarks and got on with her work.

The class eventually settled down again and it seemed that Cadwyn was making good friends with the other people she was sitting with. Brooklyn never looked back at her, not curious at all about her lost friend. She really didn't seem to care.

After Brooklyn finished up her potion, long before anyone else, he noticed that she pulled out a small dark green book and began writing stuff down with a flurry. He had never seen her look so focused and determined before and that was saying something because she always seemed so when she was in his class.

When the rest of the class was filing out he called for her stay back, hoping to arrange a lesson for that night.

"Miss Innes" he said, inclining his head slightly towards her in greeting.

"Professor" she replied looking down at her clasped hands.

He stared at her for a short time. There was something different in the way she held herself. She looked if possible more withdrawn than usual. Like she would be happy to curl into herself and never look or speak to another human being ever again. He didn't know whether he should broach the subject now or just ask her about the lessons.

"I thought we would get started right away with your lessons, if you are available to start them tonight" he said.

She looked up at him in her usual manner and spoke, "Of course Sir"

He didn't know how to broach the subject at that moment and so merely confirmed the time and sent her on her way. He hoped that he would have better luck during the lesson that night.

Eight o'clock couldn't calm fast enough that day and he couldn't be happier to be out of the overbearing company of his colleagues in the Great Hall.

He had organised for something of an experimental lesson with Brooklyn. He knew by now that she could brew almost anything that he could so he was ready to step their lessons up a notch.

The previous year he had given her the task of brewing the extremely difficult Wolfsbane potion. He had watched her every step of the way and was pleased when she grasped the knowledge and techniques needed to make such an advanced potion. She successfully finished the potion on her first go and as Severus had looked at it he had to admit to himself that she had done perfectly.

Once she had completed the potion though she said something rather odd about the adding of a certain ingredient and this had triggered a mirage of ideas in Severus' brilliant brain. He had explored it much over the course of the summer and decided to start experimenting with it as soon as he got back. Normally he would not let Brooklyn in on such a thought process but since she had been the initial trigger he thought it only fair. Besides she seemed to sprout a tonne of plausible ideas whenever she was around him and he thought perhaps she might say or do something to aid him.

He heard her familiar firm knock on the door and bid her enter. He was used to the look she gave off, of having come from a windy and rainy street but that was not what she emitted now. She walked in looking pale and sickly and dare he say frightened.

She nodded in his direction as a hello as though she thought she might vomit if she opened her mouth and walked over to the bench he had set up for her to work. Clearly whatever the matter was she was determined not to discuss it.

She looked down at the ingredients set out in front of her and frowned. He knew why she was frowning as they had already brewed this potion before.

"You must be wondering why I have these particular ingredients laid out, Miss Innes" he started, walking slowly over to where she stood.

She didn't say anything but kept looking at the ingredients waiting for something to pop out at her. He wouldn't ask her to do this potion again for no reason and she assumed that he was going to ask her to do something different. She was looking for an ingredient that was out of place amongst the Wolfsbane ingredients.

He watched as she looked, wondering what her reaction would be when she found what she was looking for. While she studied the ingredients in front of her he studied her face. She looked incredibly sick and he wondered if she was going to be able to handle such an intense assignment when she wasn't feeling well. She was focused so hard on the ingredients in front of her and she didn't seem to be having any trouble so Severus didn't say anything, but he would keep an eye on her throughout the lesson.

It didn't take her long to find the extra ingredient. Her mouth lifted slightly on one side as she realised what they were going to do. She reached over and picked it up, making sure that the ingredient wasn't damaged in any way before putting it back down and looking up at her Professor, the smile all but vanished from her face.

"You want to experiment Professor?"

He nodded, but hadn't missed the raspy voice she used. Perhaps she had the flu although it seemed a ridiculous time of year to get it, it was always possible…

"Yes, but have no doubt Miss Innes that it will be extremely difficult and should you not feel up to the task then I ask you to say so now"

She looked up at him in her usual manner, glaring at him as if daring him to ask if she was feeling ok and then merely nodded.

"Let us get started then" he said, reaching over and picking up the ingredient of the table. "When you mentioned the use of this particular ingredient last year, you were in fact running off a list of healing ingredients used in common potions, not only that but ingredients with properties to alter the mind"

He held the Wiggentree bark up into the light and did his own check to see if the ingredient was indeed undamaged. It seemed to pass his test though as he put it back down and spoke once more.

"What brought you to think of using Wiggentree bark in the Wolfsbane potion?"

"Your assignment last year on Valerian Sir, it led me to other plants with healing properties, and I thought that perhaps if touching the tree could protect against dark creatures that the bark in a potion might have… Similar effects. It could be what we've been looking for or… It could be extremely dangerous for a werewolf to ingest"

He couldn't deny that he was impressed with her level of understanding. Any potioneer must understand that potions may not always have the desired effects. They must take into account any and all possibly variants and outcomes; any ingredients that might counteract others and how to overcome that. Alternate ingredients and on the list goes. Inventing ones own potion is dangerous and many fail.

"Correct, Miss Innes, you are aware that the adding of such an ingredient could have negative effects rather than positive, have you given any thought to how much of this ingredient would be added? Not to mention when and how"

They spoke of many possibilities and all the while he could see that she was getting more ill by the minute. She had gone as white as snow after having explained her choice of ingredient proving that the mere act of talking was draining her of energy. He knew then that he would not be able to conduct any of their experiments that night.

It had been ten minutes since she had walked into his class room and her breathing had become somewhat laboured, although she tried to hide it. When he spoke he noticed that she would close her eyes briefly against the dim light in the room hoping he wouldn't noticed because her head was as usual facing down.

He asked her a question and she didn't answer. She had started sweating and had closed her eyes again.

"Miss Innes, I think perhaps you should make your way to the hospital wing" he said finally, knowing she wasn't going to admit to feeling ill.

She opened her eyes suddenly and glared up at him. The look didn't last long as her eyes widened and she brought her hands to her mouth and took a sharp intake of breath. She held the breath for so long that Severus thought she wasn't going to breath again. She felt her lips with her small fingers as if she were checking they were still there. She looked like she was trying to talk but nothing was happening.

Quickly he walked to his supply cabinet and produced a bezoar. He heard a thud as she fell to her knees and started gasping for air. He hurried beside her and knelt down, pulling her head back and opening her mouth so he could shove the small stone down her throat. She fought with him as he crammed the bezoar into her mouth, wanting only to focus on her breathing which he was inhibiting as he clamped his hand over her mouth until she swallowed.

Eventually the small stone slid down her throat but she had stopped breathing. He didn't think he had been too late and had a feeling that she would start breathing again soon. Yet despite his gut telling him that she would be fine, there was another part of him that was desperate to hear the rhythm of her breathing and see the steady rise and fall of her chest; a part of him that felt he might have already failed her.

Eventually though she started breathing, coughing and choking as she went, but still breathing and Severus let out a sigh of relief. He picked her up and walked over to the fireplace, not wanting to be seen carrying a student through the halls. He used the floo to get to the Hospital Wing and placed her down on one of the beds before going to get Madame Pomfrey from her office.

"Severus what has happened?" she asked rushing out of her office and following Severus to where Brooklyn lay.

"I do believe that she has been poisoned although I cannot say for sure with what"

Madame Pomfrey began doing a number of checks to make sure that Brooklyn was stable and after five minutes assured Severus that she would be ok.

"I will need to watch over her blood pressure and cardiac rhythm very closely for at least twenty-four hours, it appears that she has been poisoned by some form of plant, did she relay any symptoms to you Severus?"

"She was rather stubborn in admitting she was ill. She looked pale and sickly and soon began sweating and breathing heavily. I believe I delivered the bezoar just in time"

"Did she do anything to suggest she was in pain? Perhaps place her hand over her stomach?"

He thought back to when her symptoms had really started to show, "Yes she brought her hands to her mouth but she didn't look like she was in pain necessarily, her breathing gave her the most trouble"

"Is it at all possible she has come into contact with Aconite?"

He knew there had been some on the bench of ingredients but she had been looking sickly before she had reached the table. Besides he had no memory of her touching any other ingredient besides the Wiggentree bark.

"Not in my classroom no, she looked ill before she had reached for any ingredients, Aconite however does seem to match her symptoms. When she brought her hand to her mouth she was touching her lips as if she couldn't feel them, numbness of the mouth is a first symptom of Aconite poisoning"

"Severus I will need an extraction of Nightshade. If you could quickly prepare some"

He merely nodded and left the Hospital Wing, taking one last look at Brooklyn's sleeping form before closing the doors behind him.

_Ok so that was just a little longer than expected. I just couldn't stop writing apparently. Hope y'all enjoyed it though. Would love to hear what you think _


	7. Looking For Answers

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Thankyou for your reviews and so sorry it took me so long to get this up! Life just got in the way. Hope you enjoy **

Severus had known that Brooklyn would recover from her poisoning rather quickly and that as soon as she was able to walk out of the infirmary she would. Her first order of business of course would be to find a suitable punishment for one Nathaniel Drake; for she knew that he was behind her illness, even without solid proof.

Severus' first order of business would be to try and stop her from killing him. Most likely Nathaniel would be the next one under the careful watch of Madame Pomfrey after incurring some dreadful 'malady'.

She had been released that morning, precisely one week after the incident, and Severus had known he would most likely find her in the library looking up the best way of getting revenge without killing him or tracing it back to herself.

As it was she was not in the library when he went looking for her but apparently she had dropped in briefly moments before. He must have walked straight past her. She must have been hiding from him knowing he would know what she was up and that he would try to stop her.

"Did she happen to borrow anything Madame Pince?"

"No, she borrowed nothing Severus"

He merely nodded at her before leaving the room. He took a quick walk around the castle to look for her and went so far as to check the Astronomy towers but he had no luck in finding her. Where could the blasted child have got to?

He walked down the stairs that led to the Entrance Hall and was intent on looking for her in the grounds when she came striding up from the dungeons, obviously oblivious to his wanting to find her.

"Miss Innes"

She looked up at him when he said her name and took it to mean, by the tone of his voice, that he wanted to talk to her and was not merely greeting her. She walked over to him.

"Good morning Professor Snape" she replied.

"You are feeling better I assume?" he asked, not at all caring how she was feeling, due to his annoyance at having failed to find her.

"I've been let out of the infirmary haven't I?" she responded, not taking in his obviously sour mood towards her.

He glowered down at her then beckoned her to follow him back the way she had just come and towards his office.

When they reached his office and sat down the first thing he noticed was that although she was better and had been released from the hospital wing she still had dark rings around her eyes, paler than usual skin and she was still obviously underweight from her week there. For a moment he had the urge to let her do whatever she wanted in revenge of Nathaniel Drake just so the stupid little shit knew not to mess with her in future. He didn't like seeing her sick and knowing she had come so very close to death because of the arrogant child.

But unfortunately he knew that he had to talk to her and make sure that she didn't do anything rash.

"Miss Innes I am aware that you may be upset about the recent events that led to your stay in the infirmary this week" he began, speaking quite slowly as though this would ensure he didn't say the wrong thing, "You may be aware of the person responsible for the incident and I understand that you will do almost anything to get revenge"

She had not looked at him once since they had stepped into his office. She was not angry with him, she knew that he was only doing his job, but nothing that he said or did was going to stop her taking out her revenge on Nathaniel Drake. She was not going to leave any trace behind her when she sent him to the hospital wing or, if she could manage it, St Mungos. She continued to peer down at her hands as she usually did and would only look up when he asked her to.

"You mustn't do anything in revenge Miss Innes, I know all too well the feud that exists and every little snipe that you have taken at one another since you arrived at this school"

At his words Brooklyn lifted her eyes towards his for the first time. She understood that he had to have this little talk with her but his tone of voice was bordering on patronising and she didn't like it one little bit. If he understood the feud that existed between the two families better he wouldn't speak about it in a tone that suggested they were merely two children fighting over a toy. It was so much bigger than that.

She was too angry to respond with a nod and too tired to shake her head and start an argument with him. He knew what he had said and he knew how it would make her feel. There was no need for her to voice it.

When she had calmed down enough she nodded jerkily and when he could see that she was trying to control her anger he let her go, preferring not to have an argument.

The rest of the year went by smoother the only bump coming towards the end of the school year when Nathaniel Drake was sent to St Mungos with severe gastro-intestinal pains. It was found later that he had ingested a very rare, very un-edible plant, in small doses over a large amount of time.

Severus knew it was Brooklyn but there was no firm evidence and the only way he could find out for sure would be to use vertiserum or legilimency, both of which were ill-advised or illegal.

He had thought about bringing it up in their last lesson for the year but they were getting closer and closer to a potion worthy of putting before a board to test its credibility as the new Wolfsbane potion. Since Brooklyn had mentioned the Wiggentree Bark they had been testing many other ingredients in the hopes that they would work in correspondence with the bark and finding ways to change and enhance the Wolfsbane potion until it was a cure and not just management treatment.

He never imagined that he would be working with a fourteen year old girl on curing lycanthropy but he had to admit that she was something of a genius, quite possibly more so than he had been at her age. She was excelling in all her classes and seemed to do it with ease although he noticed that she seemed tired all the time as though she never got a good night sleep.

He had never asked her about the change that had overtaken her since the previous year. She was still too much like herself for him to be too alarmed but he knew that there was definitely something different about her. She was still her usual acerbic and sarcastic genius self, but despite her natural hatred for the human population she seemed even more withdrawn from the people around her than she had been the previous year. He thought perhaps this was a natural progression for her and that she would seem to hate people more and more as she got older but he couldn't rid himself of the gut feeling that told him something else was at play here.

He fought with himself for most of the year on whether it was worth the argument he was sure to have with her, to ask her if something had happened over the last summer holidays to change her.

They were both so consumed in the potion and poring over their notes to think much on anything else during their last lesson of the year.

"Perhaps if we…" she began then shook her head, "No…"

They had just added what they thought would be the last ingredient but to their dismay it had not turned the potion the desired colour or texture that indicated a finished potion. They thought they had worked everything out to the last detail but apparently they had not. She picked up their notes and pored over them again looking for the obvious mistake they had made.

They discussed every ingredient they had added and how they had added it and when they had added it taking into account every possible effect the different ingredients would have on one another. Finally they came to the flaw in their plan.

"Well we could add a counter-clockwise stir there" she pointed to a place in the written down procedure, "and then two clockwise ones here" she added pointing further down, "and instead of adding the Wiggentree Bark here perhaps we should add it later, then the silver won't have the time to have that reaction"

'The bloody child is a genius' he thought validating each new method as she spoke it.

"Very good Miss Innes, however we will need to add more Moly Petals here" he pointed just before the silver.

"Of course" she responded, immediately setting out to copy out the new procedure and make sure they had made no more mistakes.

As she was re-writing everything he began to tidy up the ingredients and dispose of the failed potion. When he was done he stood beside her and watched her write. It was magnificent the way her eyes lit up when she was excited about something. He knew how much she adored the intellectual stimulation that their lessons provided. He had not admitting as much to her but he was very proud of how far she had come in such a short time and he just knew that if she worked this hard her whole life she would far surpass him in the field of potions.

When she was done she handed him a copy and folded one up for herself and placed it in her little green book he had seen her so often with.

"Well I suppose we'll have to wait until after the summer to try again" she started then added, "You will wait won't you Professor? You won't do it by yourself over the summer?" she asked, looking very much like she would curse him if he claimed all their work as his own

"I can wait Miss Innes" he replied, turning his back on her and walking towards his desk to hide the smile on his face and to put his copy of their potion in a locked draw in his desk, "I suppose you shall be happy to be going home Miss Innes?" he added.

When he had turned around to face her he could see the dark shadow that crossed her face and knew that he had not been imagining things; there was something amiss and it was something to do with her home life.

"Yes, it will be good to be away from all these people" she responded, her usual contempt for her peers showing on her face and hiding any other emotion that might show her true feelings at the prospect of going home.

"A young girl like you should not wish to be alone so often" he replied as he played around with something on his desk, pretending the conversation wasn't as important as it was.

"I don't mind your company, Sir" she said

He looked up at her but she was looking away from him at something on the walls, her arms wrapped lightly around her body.

"And I suppose you don't mind the company of your step-father either, though I doubt you have much choice in that" he added his head facing down but his eyes slipping up to gouge her reaction to his words.

It appeared not to have much effect on her but Severus knew her quite well by now and he noted that way she seemed to hold herself more tightly; she gave away nothing in her facial expression or her tone of voice.

"I tolerate him and he knows it" she said still looking over at the wall, even adding a small smile that looked reminiscent in nature.

She bent down to scoop up her bag and then walked around the bench towards the door.

"Well I best be off Professor, I still have a few things to pack" she said

"Yes, enjoy your summer Miss Innes we'll meet her the first night of classes when you return"

"Of course" she nodded and before he could say anything further she had opened the door and slipped out.

He now knew that something was not right with her home life and he shuddered at the thoughts that raced through his head. She had not given away her fear of her step-father in her look or her voice but he had thought she gripped herself tighter at his words. He had noticed more and more throughout that school year the way she seemed to cling to herself while still somehow remaining to keep her usual cool, detached and strong composure.

He knew that he would have to speak to Dumbledore but in the mean time he knew one other person that he must seek out…

Xxx

_He knows… I thought I had hidden it well, I thought that I had lied well but apparently I had not. How could he know!? I didn't act any differently towards him this year, or even during that lesson, even with the inescapable truth hanging over my head that I was to return to that monster for the summer! _

_When he asked those questions I knew he suspected something. He had not brought up anything of that nature all year and out of no where he's talking about Cole and going home and not wishing to be lonely and damn him for being so observant! _

_I will just have to do better next year. I'm a good liar I know I am. I will do better next year…_

_Why do I want to hide it from him though? _

_Why don't I want to tell him the truth; beg him to save me? _

_I don't understand my own actions or thoughts anymore. I am not truly scared of Cole. He does not wish to kill me just to… _

_I can't write what he has done… I can't … It will make it so … Real. _

_Perhaps that it why I haven't told anyone… _

_I could have him sent to Azkaban and I know it. But then where would that leave me? I am merely fourteen years old and my grandparents don't want me. They believe me to be the same as my murdering parents, though they have never met me. _

_I think about it sometimes… Well more than sometimes. About killing… The thought has never repulsed me, quite the opposite actually, it's as natural to me as breathing. _

_I dream about the day when I can murder him, and I've had some beautiful day dreams about it. Blood everywhere! Even now as I write I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat. So perhaps my grandparents are right… Perhaps I am just like them, my parents. _

_It's no wonder I push people away. I am not safe to them. I would hurt them eventually. I don't do it to save them the pain though. No I do it to save me the trouble of having to hear them whining about how much I have hurt them and how cruel I am. _

_Then why don't I push Professor Snape away? I suppose I think he's strong enough to deal with it… And he could dish it out just as well as I could. I know he's got the same cruel streak I've got so I don't need to push him away… Not that we're that close really but… _

_Well I better pack… Perhaps I can try and spend most of my time with Bryce these holidays._

Xxx

Severus walked briskly towards the gates of Malfoy Manor. There was no one else he could think of that would be certain to know all about the widower of a Death Eater.

He dreaded the encounter with the blonde wizard for he would surely remark about Severus' lack of style or his low income or something else mildly insulting that would make him feel better about himself in comparison. Nonetheless Severus knew he just had to know about this man and what he could possibly be doing to hurt Brooklyn.

He reached the door and knocked, half hoping no one answered and half hoping they would hurry up and open the door. Finally someone did answer and it was none other than the man of the house himself.

"Ah Severus what a pleasant surprise, you're looking well…" And so it began.

They stepped inside and into the drawing room where Lucius offered him a drink which he politely declined. He took a moment, while Lucius poured himself a glass, to look about the expensively decorated room and couldn't stop the smirk from crossing his face. Lucius couldn't be any shallower if he had tried. Sometimes Severus was glad for his poor upbringing.

"Now Severus, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" he asked, taking a seat on a comfortable looking armchair of maroon coloured velvet adorned with tassels on the headrest and arms.

Severus sat opposite him on a couch of the same design, and thought about how he was going to pose his question. He could not look to be against Brooklyn's step-father if there was the chance he was a Death Eater.

"I merely wondered if you could enlighten me on the traits of a particular man, the name of Cole Reedy"

Lucius' eyes widened slightly in surprise at the question but ventured to answer nonetheless.

"I don't know him very well unfortunately" he started, taking a sip of firewhiskey, "The last I heard of that man he was living in Cokeworth, not far from you Severus, and raising his step-daughter Brooklyn Innes"

"Yes, that much I knew myself, I wondered more of his… loyalties"

Lucius chuckled slightly before taking another sip and proceeding to answer him.

"Well I don't know about you but I would say that if you were inclined to marry a mad woman well known for being a Death Eater it would be safe to say that your loyalties were well and truly with the Dark Lord, wouldn't you Severus?"

Severus didn't like the patronising tone in Lucius' voice and it had been part of the reason he had dreaded coming here in the first place.

"Yes I had come to a similar conclusion I merely wished to make sure of it" he replied, trying but failing to keep the acidity out of his tone, "I had not ever seen him at meetings with the Dark Lord. And besides, loyalties can change you know. He has a daughter to take care of, perhaps for her safety, and as a result of the Dark Lords fall, he has backed out of his duties as a Death Eater"

Another chuckle was what he got in response, "I highly doubt that Severus"

Lucius knew something that he was not telling Severus. There was a knowing twinkle in his eyes as he looked down at his now empty glass, avoiding Severus' gaze.

"You seem so sure for someone that knows very little of this man"

"I heard enough about him before the Dark Lords fall to know that he was extremely loyal and rather than leave the Dark Lords services for the safety of his daughter, I believe that he intends for her to join him when she is old enough"

This came as no surprise to Severus, many Death Eaters encouraged these loyalties in their children, even trained them to enter his services. Than that was why Brooklyn had been trained in almost every facet of magic known to wizarding kind, from such an early age. He had no doubt that Brooklyn had many other talents that she would have no opportunity to show in her career at Hogwarts but rather would be able to display them once the Dark Lord returned. He wondered if it was really what she wanted.

"Well I thankyou for your time Lucius, I must be going however, I've some business to attend to" he said, standing up and moving towards the door.

"Of course Severus any time" Lucius replied standing to show his guest out.

They reached the front door and Severus turned for a final goodbye before opening the door and leaving, but Lucius interrupted him.

"I do wonder where your interest in this man has come from Severus. No one has heard from him in years, even before the Dark Lord fell"

"His daughter attends Hogwarts and is in my house, I merely wondered what had become of her step-father"

Lucius merely smiled and nodded as Severus inclined his head and stepped outside.

Severus knew that Lucius would be suspicious of this visit but he didn't care. He had not gotten the information he had wanted but thought it best to leave the conversation where it was. He knew that Cole Reedy was a Death Eater and that he intended for Brooklyn to follow in his footsteps but this didn't quite explain her behaviour over the year. There was something else going on in that house and he would damn well find out what it was.

_Thanks for reading guys! I would love to know what you think so far :) _


	8. We Have Visitors

**Disclaimer**:** Still not mine :(**

Brooklyn never thought that she would be happy to be returning to the crowded and noisy halls of Hogwarts, but she had to admit that she was relieved she was away from home. It made her even happier to think that no one here bothered with her much anymore. They all knew by now that she was nasty and hateful and wouldn't come within ten feet of her if they could help it.

That was of course excluding her natural enemy Nathaniel Drake. He would always be around to torment her; or at least try to. She could usually ignore his stupid and ignorant remarks and just get on with her day but every now and again he did something to really piss her off. She couldn't wait until he threw the first punch at her this year she had the perfect way to get him back.

First day of classes turned out to be just the same as they always were, boring and annoying. Most of her professors were already giving her seventh year work but there was always the odd professor who believed that she should be working at the same level as her peers.

It wasn't until she reached potions that afternoon that her day seemed to get better. Sometimes she felt that he was the only person in the world that she felt comfortable with despite the fact that he was a complete jerk. She smirked in spite of herself. The fact that everyone else thought he was the meanest person at Hogwarts only made her want to be around him more.

That night she found herself knocking on his door, ready for her first private lesson of the year. She had given their experiment some thought over the summer and had a few ideas she wanted to share with him. She heard his low 'come in' from the other side of the door and opened the door to step in.

He was seated behind his desk and lifted his head in greeting before looking back down at what he was reading. He didn't want her to know that he was wondering if she had changed over this summer. Eventually he put down the paper he was looking at and turned to look at her. She had put her bag down and walked over to the table he had prepared for their lesson.

She seemed to be the same as she was when he last saw her. Her hair was the same, her face was the same, and her composure was the same. Nothing had changed about her over the summer and for some reason he found this even more suspicious than if she had changed.

"How was your summer Miss Innes?"

She didn't answer straight away she was busy studying some of the new ingredients that he had placed in front of her. She didn't even look up at him, when she did finally answer she kept her eyes glued to the ingredients.

"The usual" she responded, seemingly uninterested in the topic, "I see you've given some thought to the potion over the summer as well professor" she added, checking all the ingredients on the table as she went.

"You see why I have introduced these select few ingredients Miss Innes?" he asked, choosing not to pursue the topic of her summer.

"Yes I see why you've chosen those ingredients" she answered picking up an ingredient, incidentally the one ingredient Severus was most keen to experiment with, "You've been thinking along the same lines as I have professor" she lifted her eyes from the plant to her professor and raised her eyebrows in question.

It was in this gesture that Severus realised how familiar they had become with one another. He had never and most likely would never let any other student speak or act so casually around him and yet he was fine with her.

He reached over and took the ingredient from her, double checking it was usable.

"And what exactly have you been thinking over the summer Miss Innes?" he asked handing it back to her.

She smirked as she took it back "Lycanthropy is essentially a virus Sir" she started, looking back down at the rest of the ingredients "I've been reading over the summer. There's a library down the road from my house it has a surprisingly good section on medical science"

She had started moving the ingredients around on the table and when he saw the groups she was organising them into he smiled. They had been thinking the exact same thing over the summer.

"If we can use forms of other potions, such as the shrinking solution, to attack the infectious agent attached to and attacking the cells, then perhaps over time we can eradicate the virus all together"

She finished arranging the groups and she looked up at him waiting for him to confirm that he was thinking along those lines as well.

"Very good Miss Innes, it seems you read my mind over the summer, have you given any thought as to how we add this to our existing procedure?" he asked, barely able to keep the smirk from his face as she pulled her notes out of her bag and handed them to him.

The rest of the lesson went well although they both knew they were a long way from completing the potion. They both had so many ideas and when one of them seemed to have hit a wall the other quickly overcame it. They worked in perfect harmony with one another.

The rest of their lessons up until Christmas only seemed to get better and better. They had a feeling that they were close to a solution but neither was fooled by this. They had felt like this only a few months ago and they had been mistaken.

Aside from her time with her professor her life at Hogwarts was just as it usually was. Her classes bored her most of the time and the rest of the population caused her slight irritation, but nothing she couldn't live with. The only real pain was of course Nathaniel Drake but she was very much used to him by now. There was nothing that he could do to her without her having retaliation ready. She could always count on him having something prepared to hurt her at least once a week and while most were menial and meant to embarrass rather than physically hurt, everyone once in a while he did something that would have most other students crying and writing home if they had experienced it. But Brooklyn would rather just get her revenge on her own instead of involving anyone else.

It was this attitude that worried Severus. He had known her now for nearly four years and he could only surmise that she was getting worse. He knew that he could not change who she was but he thought he might be able to stop her from turning into someone like her parents. He feared that he had already failed her but every time this thought came creeping into his mind he would push it to the side and tell himself that he still had time to make things right.

Brooklyn had told him that she was staying in the castle over the Christmas holidays and he had asked her if she had wanted to use this time to work on the potion. She had been thrilled when he asked, although she didn't let on that she was.

It was the night before everyone was due to leave the castle for the holidays when Severus heard a knock on his door. He knew who it was straight away and bid her enter.

She walked in and closed the door behind and walked over to his desk. He immediately knew something wasn't right and he saw that she held a note in her hand.

"Miss Innes, what can I do for you this evening?" he asked, pretending that he had not noticed the note in her hand.

"I just came to tell you professor that I won't be able to work on the potion with you over the holidays I have been… summoned home for Christmas"

He looked up at her and knew that she was none to happy about it. He had to ask her. She wasn't even trying to hide her anger at the 'summons' like she normally would have done because she didn't want anyone asking her questions about her home life.

"You don't seem happy about this, is there something you wish to discuss?"

She wouldn't meet his eye for a moment as if she was thinking about whether she wanted to talk to him. In truth she had almost come to the decision to tell her professor what was going on at home. And right now she had the perfect chance to do so. She knew that he would do something for her, knew that he would help her no matter what; that he would protect her.

And for some reason it was this last thought that made her decide not to tell him. She couldn't understand it herself but for some reason she felt weak at the thought of telling someone else no matter how much she trusted them.

She shook her head "Nothing professor, I just regret not being able to work on the potion" she answered when she finally lifted her eyes to his.

He didn't believe her of course but he could do little to make her talk to him. They looked at one another for a moment before she nodded her head slightly.

"Merry Christmas professor" she said before turning and making her way towards the door.

"Miss Innes" he said before she had even reached for the handle.

She turned to face him, her eyebrows slightly raised to indicate that she was listening to him.

"I know that I may not be the most approachable person in the castle but just so you know, you may come to me about anything" he said, looking awkwardly away from her. It wasn't in his usual nature to offer comfort to anyone.

She smiled to herself, her eyes looking down "You may have failed to notice professor but you're the _only _ person that I approach in this castle" she replied turning her face from him and opening the door, "You're the only person I trust" she finished before closing the door behind her.

There were few times in his life that Severus could ever say that he cared about someone but right at that moment he knew that he could safely say he cared about Brooklyn Innes.

Xxx

Brooklyn was sitting on her bed at home writing in her little green book when her step father walked into the room. She didn't spare him a second thought and continued to write notes in her books.

"Brooky, we have visitors, I want you to come out and greet them" he said before walking out of her room and closing the door behind her.

Only when she heard the click of her bedroom door as it closed did she look up from her book. She hated him. Oh how she hated him. It took all her effort not to curse him into oblivion whenever he walked into her room or spoke to her.

She hated how he acted like he was a good father to her. She hated that he acted timid around her when he was sober, so that no one in their right mind who had seen them together would ever suspect that every once in a while he got drunk and he wasn't so timid anymore.

She hated that she couldn't tell anyone what was happening to her. She hated that she didn't know why she couldn't tell anyone. Something always stopped her. Was it embarrassment? Was it fear? She didn't know but for some reason she didn't think it was either of those things.

She knew that she had better get out and greet their guests whoever they may be. But she wrote down one last thing in her book before she left, something that she wanted to work on later; sanguis.

She smiled to herself and then left the room to meet their guests but not before hiding the book somewhere safe in her room. She walked into the room to greet her step-fathers guests.

"Ah this is Brooklyn" her step-father said as she walked in eyeing the visitors warily, "Brooklyn these are the Malfoys, they are a very high standing pure blood family"

"Merlin, it's like going back in time, you look just like your mother Brooklyn"

She couldn't help but glare at his words. She abhorred being told she looked like that woman. The man merely smiled at her and then took a step back in mock horror.

"But forgive me, we have not been introduced properly, I am Lucius Malfoy and this lovely lady here is my wife Narcissa" he said offering his hand to her.

She reluctantly let him take her hand and could barely stop herself from rolling her eyes when he kissed it rather than shook it.

She didn't like Lucius Malfoy one little bit. She could tell he was the sort of man that had worked his way up society by offering money and favours. He was slippery kind of man; a Slytherin if ever she saw one. But she didn't care about all that she wanted to know why she had to meet these people. Clearly they were here for a reason.

It was normal for Cole to want her to introduce herself to visitors as it was polite but there was something about the way he stood and smiled somewhat nervously that had her suspicious of something more.

"So Brooklyn, Cole tells me you're rather intelligent, that will get you far in our world you know" he said, a hint of another meaning hidden in his tone.

"Cole's a good liar" she responded

There was a moment of silence in which Cole looked even more nervous than before Lucius Malfoy burst out laughing. His wife quickly followed suit and soon the three adults in the room were laughing. Brooklyn did not join them little did they know that she was being deadly serious.

"I believe you Miss Innes, he's always been quite the rogue" Lucius said when he had calmed down, "However I can tell that you are definitely above average in intelligence" he added, all laughing now ceased.

Lucius then looked at her and seemed to take in more than he had the first time "You're very pretty you know, some would say that would get you far as well"

Brooklyn didn't say anything. She would never be fool enough to believe that her looks would get her anywhere. She had never considered herself to be beautiful and it had never bothered her what other people thought of her looks either. People could call her hideous for all she cared she knew she was more intelligent than them anyway.

"You know, darling it would be polite to say thank you to my husband, he has just complimented you" Narcissa said kindly, as if she were talking to someone simple.

"Cole told you I was intelligent not polite"

Lucius grinned and looked towards Cole.

"I like her, you have yourself a deal Mr Reedy" he said reaching his hand over and shaking Coles.

Brooklyn could barely keep the fury off her face. She didn't like the Malfoys at all and Cole had struck some sort of deal with them involving her.

"Excellent, I'll make arrangements and then contact you in due time"

The Malfoys left soon after much to the happiness of Brooklyn.

"What sort of deal have you gone and made?" Brooklyn demanded as soon as the door had shut behind them.

Cole turned to face her slowly "I believe that you need a female role model in your life Brooklyn, Narcissa will be such a role model" he explained.

Brooklyn didn't like the sound of that but she bit her tongue. She had come into this conversation ready to scream at him at first opportunity if only to release her anger about other things, but she didn't know enough about the Malfoys and she had a feeling that Professor Snape might. She would wait until she got back to school and ask him about them.

She nodded and was about to walk into her room when she saw Cole head into the kitchen and pull down a bottle of fire-whiskey. She couldn't stop the shudder that ran through her body. She walked quickly to her bedroom and shut and locked the door.

She ran over to her bed and pulled her book from its hiding place and tried to focus on her spells. She loved making up new spells and it was what she had been working on when she had been interrupted by the Malfoys arriving.

_Sanguis _

She tried hard to focus on her spells and remembering some of the ideas that had popped into her head before but she could barely write anything, her hands were shaking too much.

'This is ridiculous, you're not scared of him' she thought to herself.

But no matter what she told herself she couldn't calm her hands long enough to write anything. Eventually she put the book back in its hiding place. She changed into her night gown and started pacing around her room.

She went to her bed and thought perhaps if she were asleep he wouldn't bother waking her. She was foolish for thinking it of course. She had been laying in bed for ten minutes when she heard him calling her mothers name and walking down the hall towards her room.

Xxx

He watched her as she pushed her food around on her plate and stared at the table in front of her as if she weren't really seeing it. He had to do something. He had to get her to tell him what was going on at home. He had told Dumbledore what he thought was going and he could take it further if he wanted to but if Brooklyn decided she didn't want people to know then Cole Reedy would never be convicted. He had no real evidence and he doubted that anyone else knew her well enough to have realised that she had changed.

He decided that no matter what he was going to get it out of her in their next lesson. It was too important to put off anymore, he should have done something sooner and he hated the sinking feeling in his stomach when he thought about how much pain he could have prevented if he had acted quicker and gone with his instincts to begin with.

Xxx

She lay awake in her bed in the Slytherin dormitory when she heard the door open. She sat up and reached for her wand. She knew that all the girls were already there and in bed so it didn't make sense for anyone to be walking in at this time.

The footsteps sounded too heavy to belong to a teenage girl anyway. She couldn't yet tell where they were headed but she had a nasty feeling. The curtains to her bed were pulled back slowly to reveal the long blonde hair and pale pointed face of Lucius Malfoy.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, not at all feeling relieved that she knew the person.

He didn't say anything and merely kept walking towards her until he was leaning over her. He sat down on the bed and Brooklyn found herself flinching away from him. She was so confused. Why the hell would he be there? She didn't trust him.

He reached his hand out towards her and she moved further away from him. Quite suddenly she felt a chill go through her. The smile on his face seemed more sinister by the second. Why was he here?

He reached for her again and this time she didn't move fast enough. He caught her and pulled her against him, her back to his chest.

"Stop struggling, there's a good girl" he whispered

Her heart was racing as she realised why he was there. But it didn't make sense. She wanted to scream out but her voice just died in her throat. His hands were moving down her legs and then slowly made their way back up her night gown.

She struggled to get away from, clawed at his hands but nothing she did worked, she wasn't strong enough to fight him. She felt so weak. His hands had reached her breasts and he gave them a hard squeeze.

"Mmmm"

"Get away from me" she said in a strangled voice as she struggled against his grip.

One of his hands moved down her flat stomach and landed between her legs which he held firmly in his hand while she arched her back trying to get away from him. His finger began to rub her through her underwear but it felt far from good.

"Stop it" she begged hating the weakness in her voice, hating the tears that were starting to form in her eyes.

"Not ready for me yet love" he whispered in her ear as his fingers worked their way inside her underwear.

She cried out in panic and he placed his other hand over her mouth. Everything happened so quickly after that. His fingers pushed roughly inside her and she cried out in pain. Before she knew what was happening he had turned her around and thrown her on the bed, covering her body with his own. He pushed his mouth to hers and forced his tongue inside. It felt so disgusting she tried to move her head to the side away from him but he held her head in place. She could feel his erection against her leg and knew what was going to happen to her. She was so distracted with his kissing that she had failed to notice they were both already naked.

He finally pulled away and looked down at her, that sinister smile fixed firmly on his face.

"You're so beautiful Brooklyn" he whispered, leaning into her ear, "Just. Like. Evalyn" he added and slammed himself into her body…

Brooklyn sat up in bed screaming and crying. It took her a long time to calm down and she was thankful that she had placed silencing charms around her bed already. She had been prone to nightmares for some time now but this was the worst one she had ever had. It had felt so real. His hands on her skin, his tongue in her mouth, his breath on her neck when he spoke to her, his manhood forcing its way into her…

She dived out of bed and towards the bathroom, struggling not to vomit before she had reached the toilet. Every time she thought she had finished throwing up she remembered that sinister smile and found herself retching again. Eventually she did stop though.

Once she had slowed her breathing and heart rate down to normal she sat thinking. She had to ask professor Snape about the Malfoys, she had to know more about who they were. They seemed like the type to follow Voldemort, not that that worried her considering Voldemort was dead anyway but she didn't want to have a role model that believe in all that fanatical pureblood crap.

She moved to stand up and noticed something on her nightgown. She touched the edge of her nightgown and when she brought her hands back up she noticed blood on her fingers. Without giving it a second though she cleaned herself up and headed back to her bed. There was more blood there and once she had removed it all she lay back down.

She wasn't scared but she wasn't exactly thrilled about it either. She was a woman and she now needed to figure out how she was going to brew a contraceptive potion without anyone knowing what she was up to.

When she woke the next morning she knew something was wrong. She felt so sick and she had a horrible headache. Slowly she got up out of bed, checking the sheets to make sure they were still clean. She made her way to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. She looked dreadful. Her skin was pale and her hair was plastered to her head she had been sweating that much. She reached her hand up and touched her forehead and realised she had a temperature. She began to make her way back out towards her bed side table where she thought she had some headache potion but she had barely made it to the door when she had to run back to the toilet and vomit.

Finally she stood and walked out of the bathroom and found to her dismay that she had no potions left in her draws. She would have to go and see professor Snape. She got dressed, rather slowly to her irritation, and walked out of her dormitory towards the potions maters office.

She looked at her watch as she arrived outside his door. She hadn't realised how early she had woken up. The rest of the girls in her dorm were only just rising when she left the room. She knocked anyway; she hoped he was an early riser.

Severus heard the knock on his door and couldn't believe that someone other than himself was actually awake and doing things at this hour of the morning. He bid her enter and was shocked that to see Brooklyn standing there. Normally he knew her by her knock but this knock had been timid and weak.

"Miss Innes, you don't look well, I assume that's why you're here?"

She nodded and put her hand to her forehead as if the mere action of moving her head caused her pain.

"I was wondering if you had anything for headaches Sir. I seem to have run out" she said, her voice weak and her breathing shallow.

He picked down a vile of one of his many shelves and walked over to her. She took it out of his hand, thanking him. He watched as she tried to unstop the vile but her hands were shaking so much she couldn't do it.

"Allow me Miss Innes" he said taking it off her and uncorking it and handing it back to her.

She gulped it down in one go and then handed the vile back to him, a disgusted grimace on her face as she tasted the potion. She closed her eyes and waited a moment for the potion to do its work. When she opened her eyes she seemed a little better.

"Thank you professor" she said.

He noted that she still looked rather ill and her breathing wasn't much improved.

"Perhaps you should go to the hospital wing Miss Innes, you're not looking well" he suggested as he placed the vile in a stack with other unused ones.

"I'm fine professor, it was just a headache" she responded.

He merely nodded in response, if she didn't want to take his advice then that was her choice. He expected her to leave after that but for some reason she was still standing there. She looked as though she wanted to say something but wasn't sure how to say it.

"Is there something else Miss Innes?"

"I…" she started wondering exactly how much she should say. "I…" she stuttered again before just bursting out what she wanted to say "What do you know about the Malfoys?"

Whatever he had been expecting it wasn't that.

_Thanks for reading! Would love to know what your thoughts are._


	9. A Rare Happiness

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

Brooklyn dreaded the ending of the school year. She knew that unlike previous years, this summer holidays she would be spending her time at Malfoy Manor. She was of course glad to be rid of Cole for the summer but she had yet to ascertain whether Mr Malfoy was any better a man than her stepfather. She knew it had just been a dream...No a nightmare. But it had been so vivid as to have her question the man she was supposed to be spending the summer around. She shook herself every time she thought about it. She was being stupid. It was just a dream... No a nightmare.

Besides she was meant to be spending the majority of her time with Mrs Malfoy, learning how to be a pureblood witch. Brooklyn knew what that required her to do, how it required her to act, to dress - and she wasn't interested. Cole already had her wearing makeup and had taught her all through her life that she was to dress presentably at all time whilst in public or in the company of others. She kept her nails well manicured and her hair neat and shiny. Her clothes were well tailored and she spoke impeccable english. She didn't understand exactly what it was that Narcissa Malfoy was supposed to be teaching her except perhaps how to be a pureblood wife and mother, two things that Brooklyn had absolutely no intention of becoming.

She was going to be a renowned potioneer, she - with the help of her mentor- was going to cure lycanthropy. It may have been laughable to anyone that knew her acidic nature, but Brooklyn wanted to make a good contribution to the world. She had heard about the horrible things her parents had done to people; the horrible people that they were. And she knew how easy it would be for her to turn her back on everyone and everything and become just like them. Unlike most people Brooklyn had to work hard at being a decent human being. Her ongoing feud with Nathaniel Drake was her only outlet and when she was done with Hogwarts she was going to get rid of him and Cole. She would make sure that she didn't leave a trace. They wouldn't be able to tie her to the murders. There was no way she was going to go to Azkaban for those two wretched men, but there was no way she could let them live either. She would have her cake and eat it too. But that was a problem for the future - for now she had to focus on getting through her summer with the Malfoys.

She arrived at the Malfoy's place the day after school had broken up. They greeted her with a smile and her and Cole were given a tour of the Manor. It was more for Brooklyn's benefit than for Cole's as she was sure he had been there many times before. Lucius and Cole eventually drifted apart from the ladies and Brooklyn found herself outside a large bedroom with tasteful decorations.

"This will be your room for the summer dear" Narcissa informed her and Brooklyn noted that her luggage was already there at the end of the large four poster bed, not unlike those at Hogwarts and draped in the same shade of green. Brooklyn merely nodded in reply before walking in to take a look around.

Narcissa watched her from the door, anxious for her stepfather to leave the house. The truth was that Narcissa, in all the years that she had known him, had never liked Cole Reedy and she couldn't imagine that Brooklyn liked him any better.

"I really hope you enjoy your time here Brooklyn" She smiled but Brooklyn didn't reply.

Despite how rude Brooklyn appeared to be or actually was, Narcissa liked her. She could tell the girl was incredibly intelligent, much more so than anyone else in the house, and she knew what it was to grow up a pureblood witch and the pressure that involved. At least Brooklyn had an outlet; her intelligence and her passion for potions that Cole had told them about.

Brooklyn had not told Cole what her and Professor Snape had been attempting to do, that was completely between them and she liked it that way.

Finally Brooklyn turned back to face Narcissa and they proceeded to finish the tour of the house and met the men downstairs where the house elves were serving lunch.

Brooklyn was rarely ever hungry so she didn't eat much - something Narcissa took note of. She still wasn't sure how she felt about being around Lucius Malfoy. After her nightmare that night she had had three more and each time he had become more violent and the dream had lasted longer. She wasn't stupid enough to confuse dream Lucius with real Lucius but she couldn't help but cringe a little when he spoke to her, looked at her or touched her.

Finally Cole got up to leave and they walked with him to the door. He shook Lucius' hand, kissed Narcissa and leaned in to kiss Brooklyn on the forehead. She stiffened at his touch and nodded to his words of goodbye.

After he left Lucius went off to the drawing room stating he had some important business that he had to complete. He gave his wife a brief kiss on the cheek and left the room. Brooklyn wondered what it was she was supposed to do and was hoping that she would be allowed to just vanish into her bedroom and work on her potions and spells. Narcissa had other ideas however and invited Brooklyn to follow her outside where they had a beautiful garden.

Reluctantly Brooklyn followed and was amazed at the site before her. The garden was indeed beautiful but that was not what she liked about it. With just one cursory glance Brooklyn could see at least five different plants that were incredibly hard to come by in their part of the world and extravagantly priced if one wanted to order them from across the other side of the world. She walked over to one in particular that caught her eye. She had been working on a potion with this very ingredient in it but she had never really figured out how she was going to get her hands on it. Now she knew.

"Do you know what these plants are?" Narcissa asked, hoping to engage her in something that she was clearly interested in.

"Yes" came Brooklyn's short reply.

Normally this kind of behaviour would have bothered Narcissa but for some reason it didn't where Brooklyn was concerned.

"I'm afraid I was never very good at Potions but I did love some of the plants we learnt of in Herbology, I suppose you are quite good at both?"

Brooklyn was busy examining the plant she had walked up to and didn't answer immediately.

"Did you know that that plant caused the mass poisoning of a group of soldiers in Jamestown in 1676?" she said pointing to a plant across from her.

Narcissa looked at the unassuming plant. She had not known that and freely admitted it, asking if it was dangerous for her to have around her young son.

"No just don't boil it and throw it in a salad"

Narcissa laughed lightly in response. She didn't know how to act around the girl but she suspected that it would be better to get straight to the point. She had wanted to get to know here a little better first but she knew that there was very little that she was going to get out of Brooklyn Innes. She decided to let Brooklyn wander around a little more and noted when she stopped to look at certain plants, ones that Narcissa thought were the least interesting, yet evidently were extremely interesting to Brooklyn.

"Would it be acceptable for me to come here later? I would like to examine some of the plants a bit better"

Narcissa was surprised she asked, but nodded her head in assent.

"Would you like to come inside now, I have some things that I would like to talk to you about"

Brooklyn merely took one last look around before walking back inside leaving Narcissa to follow her. Narcissa frowned. She certainly was an odd young woman.

Narcissa called one of the house elves to prepare them some tea and scones as they sat down in the parlour.

"I do suppose that you're wondering what you're doing here for the Summer?" she started wondering how much Cole had told her about her stay.

"You're to make me a pureblood housewife are you not?" Brooklyn responded as a house elf walked in placing down a tray of food and tea.

Narcissa didn't answer while she poured them tea and placed a few scones on each of their plates. Brooklyn took hers without so much as a thank you. Narcissa chose to ignore this. She didn't believe that Brooklyn was without manners, she knew there was a reason that she was choosing not to use them.

"I am to be a female role model for you Brooklyn, that is true" she started, pausing to take a sip of her tea, "But let's not insult anyone's intelligence by implying you would be a mere housewife in the future"

Brooklyn didn't seem to respond in any way and Narcissa was worried that she would never be able to get this girl to trust her.

"Have you expressed those opinions to Cole?" Brooklyn asked before taking a sip of her tea and looking uninterested.

Narcissa took a sip of her own tea before gently placing her cup and saucer down and folding her hands into her lap, "I believe that it is best we keep this to ourselves Brooklyn"

Brooklyn eyed her over her teacup instantly suspicious. Why would Narcissa Malfoy, pureblood wife and mother of the century, be looking out for her Brooklyn Innes, who had not showed her the least bit of respect since walking into her home.

"What do you want?"

Narcissa was taken aback at first but quickly found her composure, "I don't want anything from you Brooklyn" she started, "I merely want to make sure that you know I understand where you're coming from and that I want to help you"

"And how do you propose to do that?"

"You're supposed to be here learning how to be a pureblood wife and mother, but we both know that you will never just be that" she paused and took a sip of her tea while she thought through her next words, "You will have to learn something about being a mother and housewife in order to convince Cole that I am a good role model, but ultimately you are free to spend your time however you wish"

Brooklyn wasn't sure if she believed in Narcissa's words and she wondered just how much time she would have to spend 'pretending' to learn about her womanly duties. In the end she decided there was nothing to do but to trust Narcissa for now but remain cautious of what she said around the woman. She didn't need her knowing anything about her home life or her life at school. She nodded and drank the rest of her tea.

xxx

Brooklyn was to spend the last week of her holidays with Cole, because he wanted to see her before she disappeared for another year. She rolled her eyes at the letter she held in her hand asking her to come home before she went back to Hogwarts. She seriously considered just burning the letter and sending the owl away but she had a feeling that Cole would have sent a similar letter to Lucius, just to make sure.

As predicted when she left her room to go down to breakfast Lucius was speaking to his wife about sending Brooklyn home. She walked into the parlour and sat down at the table, not really hungry but Narcissa had taken to nagging her about eating more.

"Good morning Brooklyn" Lucius said cheerfully, or creepily as Brooklyn had a tendency to see it.

She nodded her head in his direction and started piling food onto her plate that she most likely wasn't going to even eat half of.

"We've received a letter from Cole, it seems he misses you Brooky and would like you to go home"

Brooklyn tried to hide the shiver that ran through her body at the endearment. Lucius had never called her that in the weeks that she had been there and she wondered why he had decided to use it then. She looked up at him with a neutral expression on her face and felt instantly sick at seeing the smile on his. She knew that she was imagining it but all she could see was a sinister grin.

"Brooklyn, are you alright dear, you seem to have gone quite pale?" Narcissa asked.

She swallowed and looked down at her plate. She was fine. Lucius was not going to hurt her, he had made no such move to do so in the entire time she had stayed with them and he would not do so now. They were just dreams! No... Nightmares. They weren't real.

"I'm fine, and yes I got the letter as well" she responded to both of them and then started shoveling food into her mouth before they could ask her any more questions.

Narcissa said goodbye to her in the foyer later that afternoon as Lucius was taking her back home via apparation.

"It was lovely spending this time with you Brooklyn, I do hope we get another chance to do this" she said, embracing Brooklyn and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Brooklyn responded by kissing Narcissa's cheek and stating how wonderful a time she had had and how much she looked forward to the next holidays.

Lucius and Brooklyn left the Manor and apparated to her house in Cokeworth. Just before they went inside Lucius stopped her.

"I am quite impressed with how much you have learned these past weeks, you have really come a long way" he said with that smile on his face, the one she was sure was meant to be charming but just came off sleezy.

"Thank you Mr Malfoy, your wife is a miracle worker" she responded, letting the sarcasm drip into her voice. She walked forward, wanting nothing more than to be locked up her own bedroom again.

Cole welcomed her back with a hug and shook Lucius' hand, thanking him for having her. She said nothing and stalked off to her room just wanting to be left alone. She was glad to be away from Lucius, despite his completely gentlemanly behaviour towards her. The dreams were just too vivid for her to be around him for any length of time.

The one thing that being at Malfoy Manor had afforded her was an opportunity to see first hand some very rare plants and to sketch them down in her book. She had touched some when it she knew they were safe and smelt others, noting everything down in her book.

She pulled the book out now and started scribbling some ideas that she had thought of over breakfast and wondering if Professor Snape would be able to answer some of her questions. Of course he would... He was a genius.

xxx

Severus walked into his class room for what felt like the millionth time that day. There was no doubt that it had been a long day indeed. Between Billie Carrick and that silly twat from Hogsmeade, he had had enough of the day and just wanted it to be over. It was only the first day of classes for Merlin's sake!

He barked his orders at the class and threatened them all if there was one explosion he would be handing out a months worth of detentions to all within a metre radius of it. This sated his mood only slightly. The only other thing that soothed him in any way was the fact that Brooklyn was in this particular fifth year class. Meaning at least one of his students would be doing something correctly.

There she was sitting front and centre of his class like she did every time, already ahead of her classmates in brewing her potion, and by the looks of it taking several well thought out shortcuts. He smiled to himself as he saw her take one that he himself had taught her. As if she had read his mind, she looked up at him and smiled her slight smile, as if to say thank you for the tip. He inclined his head only slightly in response, not wanting anyone else to catch on.

After her first couple of years Severus had noticed that she had tended to sit alone during class, seemingly no one wanted to sit next to her since Cadwyn Lewis. She seemed to like it this way anyway and didn't look put out at all. In fact this seemed to sit much better with her. For as long as he could remember now, no one had tried to sit next to her since. Until now.

Azrael Pelletier had walked from his usual seat beside Nathaniel Drake and sat himself down next to Brooklyn.

Severus immediately noticed her stiffen beside him. No one had sat next to her in years and all of a sudden someone whom she is known to be an enemy of comes and sits beside her. She knows something's not right; they're up to something.

He's waiting for her to react in someway, perhaps to tell Azrael to bugger off and leave her alone, but instead she does nothing. She doesn't even stop what she's doing, the only evidence that she realises he is there is that she has shuffled over only slightly.

Severus had contemplated telling Azrael off himself, but he was curious to see how Brooklyn would handle the situation. And there he had his answer. She was not going to give them the satisfaction of being upset or angry, and she was most certainly not going to be making a scene. They were clearly trying to get to her in some way and she was not about to let them win.

Azrael just stares at her and then looks back at Nathaniel as if he is waiting for direction, to which Nathaniel stares pointedly at him telling him to stay put. He shrugs his shoulders and turns around to light a fire beneath his cauldron, intent on staying there for the rest of his lesson.

For the next ten minutes Severus watched as Azrael painfully tried to gain her attention and get a reaction out of her. But she was far too immersed in her potion to care what he was doing. Severus knew it was only a matter of time however before his dangerous behaviour around his potion caught her attention.

"By Merlin are you retarded?" she snapped finally as she reached over and stopped Azrael from dropping something into his potion that would have caused it to explode.

"So you do have a voice after all" he jeered at her, pulling his arm away from her grasp.

She ignored him and turned back to her potion, but he knew he had her now. All he had to do was to continue doing his potion in the wrong manner and she would be abusing him for the rest of the lesson; which of course was what he wanted.

He dropped something into his potion and smirked at the hissing and spitting noises that it was now making. Her eyes moved to glare at him but she did nothing else to register that she had noticed his stupid move. He frowned obviously annoyed that she had not reacted. He needed to do something far more dangerous than that.

Severus watched as Azrael moved to pick up the first thing she had taken out of his hands and drop it into his potions.

'If you're going to insist on dropping that in there could you please do me a favour and stir the cauldron counter clockwise three times before doing so?" she asked, without looking at him as she dropped in the last ingredient of her own potion.

He looked at her stupidly and then smirked, "And what if I don't?"

"Well I sincerely hope that you don't like your face the way it is" she replied before picking up her wand and casting a shield charm around her self.

Severus had to hide the smirk growing on his face. He had to hand it to her she knew what she was doing when it came to those boys. Although he had also had to admit that had it been Nathaniel instead of Azrael sitting next to her she might not have been so smooth. And he might not have been so stupid. Unfortunately Nathaniel was a far more dangerous enemy to her but so far she seemed to be able to handle herself around him.

At that moment the door to his classroom was pushed open and there stood none other than Albus Dumbledore. Severus raised a brow at the Headmaster but said nothing as the Headmaster walked forward, a girl of about fifteen in tow.

"Severus how are you?" Dumbledore asked politely his hands clasped together in front of him and his thumbs lightly twiddling.

"I am well Headmaster and yourself?"

"Yes, yes wonderful as always to be in the company of my students" he replied not bothering to explain who the young girl beside him was.

Severus rolled his eyes knowing the Headmaster was merely waiting for him to ask. For such an intelligent man he was such a silly old codger sometimes.

"So good to hear" Severus replied with a strained smile, "So what brings you down here?"

As if remembering that he had something important to say, Dumbledore's eyes widened and he took a theatrical step to the side, making the young girl beside him more visible, "I have come to introduce you to our newest student Severus, Miss Santana Solomon"

Santana smiled brightly at the potions master and said how lovely it was to meet him. Severus merely inclined his head only mildly taken aback by the American accent.

"She has been sorted already and as fortune has it you have gained another student Severus" Dumbledore said, smiling brightly as if nothing in the world could have made him happier.

Severus and the Headmaster wrapped things up and Dumbledore took Santana to meet her other teachers. No doubt he would get the run down on who she was later on. For now he turned his attention back on Brooklyn wondering if she had taken in anything that had just been said between the Headmaster and himself. She most likely had and would ask him later where she was from.

Meanwhile Brooklyn had finished her potion and cleaned up her bench long before anyone else. She sat there writing in her little dark green book that she seemed to be so attached to.

Azrael of course was trying to look over her shoulder and read it but one look at the page she was writing on was enough to bring a confused look over his face. She was writing it all down in Latin so of course he couldn't understand it and she rolled her eyes, marvelling at how very stupid he was.

Brooklyn found herself in her usual place beside Professor Snape, standing over a simmering cauldron, both with a look of anxiousness on their faces. They had each been working on the potion over the holidays and both had pretty much come up with the same brilliant ideas. They waited with baited breath as Brooklyn added the last ingredient and stirred the required amount of times before setting the stirrer down and hoping against hope that the potion turned pale blue.

The time seemed to stretch on forever as they both peered into the cauldron but eventually and to their utter joy the potion turned the expected colour.

"We did it" Brooklyn said in a hushed whisper, as if anything louder would have caused the potion to change it's mind and turn pink.

Severus didn't reply merely watched her as a rare smile formed on her face at what they had achieved. Her eyes lit up in a way that he hadn't really seen before and a smile brighter and wider than he had ever seen on her face, graced her features.

"We did it!" she said, louder this time and clasping her hands together. Severus was staring at her like she was a stranger to him.

Finally though he did manage a response, "Yes Miss Innes we did"

"We actually have something good enough to put before a board"

Her happiness was infectious. He smiled in spite of himself and adored the way that she looked at the potion with such strong emotions written all over her face. He had not realised that succeeding in this meant so much to her but clearly he had underestimated it's importance to her.

He moved forward with a few vials and they proceeded to bottle the potion very carefully and place it in a small wooden box that Severus had bought for the occasion. She didn't say anything the whole time and Severus wasn't quite sure what to say to her. Should he thank her? Congratulate her? He wasn't sure and so he merely pointed out that she should work on writing an associating paper for the potion so they had something to publish.

"You want me to write it?" she asked, assuming that if either of them would be published it would be him and she would merely be acknowledged.

"Yes Miss Innes, you put just as much time and effort into this as I, I will contribute to the paper and make sure that it is acceptable, but I want you to write the bulk of it"

Her eyes lit up again as she she nodded in response. She left shortly afterwards. promising to have the paper ready for him to check over by the weekend. As she walked back to Slytherin dormitories she couldn't help but smile. They had done it! She had done something good in the world, and no one could take that away from her! Not Cole, or Nathaniel, not Lucius bloody Malfoy!

She was careful to hide her cheerfulness when she walked into the common room and made her way up to her bed. She had all but forgotten about the other girl that she had seen in class that day and at that moment wasn't the least but curious about her. As it happened the girl was in the bed next to her.

Brooklyn got ready for bed that night happier than she had been in a long time, she was so distracted by their amazing achievement that night that she forgot to put the usual silencing charms around her bed before falling into a peaceful slumber.

_I know it has been a long time coming, but you know...Life. I hope you all enjoyed! _


	10. Smile

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**Warning - **Very graphic scene ahead - if you are sensitive to sexual abuse scenes or just graphic scenes in general skip down to the line. You will not be missing any major plot points.

She was in the garden at Malfoy Manor surrounded by all the flowers and plants. She sat on one of the benches provided and was sketching in her little green book. She was so preoccupied that she hadn't noticed that she was no longer alone in the garden. She turned just in time to see Lucius sit next to her, a sickening smirk gracing his features.

She moved away from him and stood, dropping her little green book and charcoal in the process. She looked down at the book and then to Lucius. She couldn't leave the book there but if she bent down he would surely grab her. She felt the back pocket of her jeans for her wand and realised that it was missing, she tried not to let the panic show on her face but Lucius' smirk widened.

"Missing something Miss Innes?" he asked standing up and taking a step towards her.

She knew she could do wandless magic if she tried hard enough, a summoning charm was easy. She could summon her wand and then grab her book and run. She didn't take her eyes off the pale, blonde man while she concentrated, trying to get her wand to move into her hands.

Suddenly he threw his head back in laughter, the sounds echoing loudly. The sounds was eerie.

"Wandless magic won't work here Brooky," he said and with a flick of her wand the little green book came flying into his hands.

She shuddered at the endearment but tried not to let it affect her. She had to stay focused and figure out a way to get her wand and the book back off him, it was too precious to her and he knew that. As she thought, Lucius stared at her with amusement written all over his face.

"This is getting quite boring Brooky, I want to play," and with that the book and her wand disappeared and he was advancing on her.

She had no way to fight him. She had no wand and wandless magic didn't work here. She turned and began to run through the garden. He followed slowly behind her and even when she had finally lost sight of him in the vast garden, she could still hear his laughter.

"You can't hide from me Brooky," he whispered in her ear. She screamed and jumped not understanding how he could have gotten so close so quickly. He let her run again, seemingly liking the game of cat and mouse and content to play for a little longer.

She had no idea where she was anymore, she didn't recognise this part of the garden. There were tall hedges and she had the feeling that she had walked into some kind of maze. She could feel the panic welling up in her as she ran further into the maze. He was laughing from somewhere far away but she knew it was a lie. He was near her, she could feel his presence. The tall hedges blocked out the sun and everything was cast in shadows. She noticed that sun was going down and the shadows were disappearing to be replaced with darkness. It wasn't long before she was groping blindly at the walls.

"I'm done playing," the disembodied voice came from her left and she jumped, running into the hedge and feeling herself pinned there.

His hands were running up her legs pulling up her dress and spreading her legs in the process. She struggled against his grip, her hands on his shoulders trying to push him away from her, she hadn't even noticed that her outfit had changed. He leaned into her, flicking his tongue out and licking the shell of her ear. He chuckled as she shuddered in disgust, pushing more forcefully with her hands.

He had ripped her underwear with his hands and thrust his fingers into her. She cried out in pain, the tears she had tried so hard to hold back, falling down her cheeks. Their clothes were off now and he slammed himself into her, again and again. He brought one hand to her head, grabbing a handful of her hair and pulling hard, while he thrust into her.

"You're just like Evalyn, Brooky, just like her," he panted before bringing his mouth down on hers.

She tried to move her head but he held her there, thrusting his tongue into her mouth, enjoying the salty taste of her tears as he fucked her. She screamed in the back of her throat, trying everything she could to get away from him but part of her knew that it was futile. She had been here before. He always got his way. But she would be able to leave soon. It never lasted forever and she tried to hold onto this, tried to ignore the feeling of him inside her. And then he thrust one last time, filling her with his seed and grunting in pleasure.

She woke to the startled face of one Santana Solomon hovering over her. It took her a moment to recognise the newest face to the dormitory as just that, rather than a threat. In her tired and disorientated state she most likely wouldn't have been able to do much even if she was a threat.

"Are you ok?"

Brooklyn didn't answer her. Instead she took in the fact that none of the other girls in her dormitory were awake. The silencing charms that she placed around her bed prevented just that if she had a nightmare, which was most nights, but that didn't explain the young witch standing next to her with concern in her eyes. Brooklyn didn't like that look and sneered up at the other girl.

"I'm fine," she finally snapped, before shutting the curtains around her bed and turning over.

To her credit the new girl didn't try and open them again and after what Brooklyn took as a moment of shock, she turned back to her own bed and went back to sleep. Had she forgotten to cast the spells around her bed? And if that was the case why weren't the other girls awake? Brooklyn turned over and reached for her wand that was underneath her pillow, intent on casting the silencing charm when she realised that there was already one around her bed. She could feel the light thrum of magic surrounding her and she recognised that it wasn't her own. She swiftly undid the spell and cast her own, not comfortable with someone else's magic protecting her. Sleep did not come easily to her after that.

xxx

Severus Snape very rarely, if ever, woke up to the feeling of giddy happiness bubbling in his chest. However that morning seemed to be an exception. Memories of the night before, when they had finally produced a potion that might work, ran through his head. He had never truly seen her smile the way she had smiled last night. And he realised that that made him sad. She was a fifteen year old girl and she had never been given any other reason to be as happy as she was last night there in his office. He shook his head. He had to make more of an effort this year to get her to speak. If he could just get her away from that despicable man he was sure that he would see more of her smile in the years to come. And she deserved that more than most people he knew. With that resolution and the slightly less but nevertheless present giddy feeling in his chest, he left his room for the Great Hall.

xxx

She had spent most of the night working on the paper they would publish. She still could not believe that he was letting her do the work. Published at fifteen! She had to work hard to hide her smile from those around her as she thought about it. She pulled the paper out of her bag as she sat nibbling on some toast. She had finished a rough copy and was intent on spending her free time that day making it perfect. She had already done all her homework for that week so she had plenty of time to focus on that.

She looked up as he walked into the Great Hall and met his eye. After gracing him with her slight smile she turned back to her paper and her half eaten toast. As she scanned through the procedure of their potion she realised that she had left something out and frowned at herself. Putting down the food that she no longer had any interest in she stood, grabbing her bag and her paper and heading towards the library.

As she sat in the corner of the library hours later putting the finishing touches on her paper, she felt rather than saw someone hovering nearby. Her first thought was of Nathaniel Drake but she knew somehow that it wasn't him. She looked up and to her left only to see the newest addition to Slytherin House standing in one of the aisles, flicking through a book and looking increasingly frustrated. Brooklyn smirked and turned her mind back to her paper. Checking it over one more time, and deeming it perfect, she rolled up her paper and felt excitement bubble inside her at the thought of handing it to her professor. Just as she was about to stand and leave she heard her new roommate call out to her.

"It's Brooklyn, right?"

Brooklyn rolled her eyes before turning to face the girl, "Yes it is, what do you want?"

The girl seemed unfazed with Brooklyn's rudeness and merely smiled, "I was wondering if you could point a girl in the direction of a good potions book? I'm wanting to write a paper on the properties of ginseng in improving cognition."

Brooklyn raised an eyebrow at her, not wanting to admit to herself that she was intrigued.

"Ginseng has only had mild effects in this area, do you think you could make it more potent?"

The girl smiled brightly, "So you're a bit of a potions buff?" She asked.

"That's one way of putting it," Brooklyn replied, walking towards the shelves in which she knew the best potions books were. She didn't know why she was helping this girl but if there was someone else out there that might possibly understand potions the way that she understood them, she should do all she can to help.

"Here," she said, pulling down the book she thought would help best.

"Thank you!" the girl replied, smiling brightly, "I'm Santana, by the way," she added, holding out here hand.

Brooklyn eyed it suspiciously but when Santana wiggled her fingers and smiled even wider, if that were at all possible, Brooklyn found herself reaching forward and shaking the girls hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Santana, " Brooklyn said, not at all understanding why she was being nice to this girl.

"Call me Sonny, all my friends back home do," she replied.

It was a little while before Brooklyn realised that they were still holding hands and she quickly pulled hers away as though she had been burned.

"Right, well I have to go," she said, before turning on her heal and practically running out of the library towards the dungeons.

Thoughts of the girl plagued her all the way down to the dungeons. She had no idea why she had decided to be nice to the girl when she had been so rude to her the night before, all because she had been helping. Brooklyn did not like people and she hated it when people tried to get close to her. Even Professor Snape only knew so much about her and she trusted him more than anyone on the planet. It was only as she reached the dungeons that she realised that the girl had not answered her question about the ginseng. She frowned, normally able to notice those sorts of things when they happened. She shook her head as she reached Professor Snape's office, wanting to have a clear mind when she handed him her paper.

She knocked and waited, hoping that he was not out at that time, or on duty doing rounds. She was relieved to hear his low voice telling her to come into his office. As she stepped in, she wiped all thoughts of Santana from her mind and focused solely on the paper she had finally finished.

"Miss Innes, I would ask what you are doing here on a weekend but if I know you then I know that you have already finished that paper, am I correct?"

She gave him her slight smiled and nodded, taking the paper out of her bag and placing it on his desk.

"I thought it would be best to write it while everything was still fresh in my mind," she replied as he picked it up and began reading it.

She wasn't sure whether or not she was supposed to wait there while he read it but he had not told her to leave so she took a seat across from him while he read. It thankfully didn't take long for him to get through it and by the time he had finished reading it, Brooklyn had no idea what he thought about it. She hated that he was so very difficult for her to read.

He had thought about telling her to leave while he read it, incase he took a strong disliking to something she had written but he should have known better than to expect anything but perfect from Brooklyn Innes. It was almost as though he had written it himself. He couldn't help but feel a swell of pride at her work. He would not need to edit it at all.

"This is more than adequate to be published, Miss Innes, well done," he said finally.

She smiled slightly, not wanting him to know how truly pleased she was with his praise, "Thank you Sir," she stood, thinking that it was time for her to leave but he stopped her before she got too far.

"We are still going to be meeting at the usual time Miss Innes, your extra classes don't stop here, if we can cure lycanthropy, we can do much more," he said, causing her to smile widely for the second time in her life.

"I can't wait to see what else we can accomplish," she replied, "I'll see you on Monday Sir," and with that she walked from his office, all thoughts of the new girl wiped clean from her mind.

xxx

Brooklyn was glad when her and her Professor started on a new potion, they wanted to create something that would help those affected by the Cruciatus Curse. They weren't necessarily making any progress but it was early days and they kept reminding themselves of what they had already accomplished. It was a few months after Brooklyn had written her paper that she heard back from her Professor about what the board had to say. He had called her into his office on a Wednesday night and she had left dinner early to go.

"Miss Innes, please take a seat," he said when she walked in.

"What did you wish to speak to me about Sir?" she asked once she had sat down.

He reached into the draw in his desk and pulled out what looked to be a letter and a copy of Potions Journal International, "I have heard back from the board and they have done some tests on victims of the lycanthropy virus and they have had positive results," he started, a small smile gracing his features, "It appears that we have been successful, Miss Innes, the virus has not returned to the victims in the last three months,"

She couldn't stop the smile spreading across her face, she was so very happy, happier than she had ever been in her entire life. She didn't have any words for how she was feeling at that moment but she knew that she didn't need any, he knew exactly how she was feeling.

"Also, I have forwarded your paper to Potions Journal International along with the results from the trial and they are to be published in their next months issue. Congratulations Miss Innes, published at fifteen," he said, handing her both the letter from the board and the draft copy of Potions Journal International.

She flicked through the magazine to find her article and one quick read through told her that he had not changed anything before sending it in. She remembered that he had said it was more than adequate to be published but she had still expected him to change a little of it.

"You kept it as I wrote it," she said quietly, not initially realising how much that meant to her until she said it out loud.

"But of course, Miss Innes, it was perfect," he replied.

She closed the journal and handed both back to him and sat there in silence. She was going to be published, for something good, for something amazing. It was overwhelming to think that she would be famous within the potions world. Nothing could make her happier, except perhaps killing Cole and Nathaniel Drake. It made her almost sad to think that something so amazing as curing lycanthropy could be on par with murdering people, even though they most certainly deserved it. It made her really sad and for the first time since she had decided that she had to kill them both she actually considered not doing it. She knew it wasn't really an option but what if it was? What if she could get rid of them indefinitely without having to kill them? She could get them put in Azkaban or condemned to be kissed. She was smart enough to come up with something but what? And she already had so many ideas for how to murder them without having it traced back to her. She was so lost in her thoughts that she had not noticed Professor Snape speaking to her.

He had watched her as she sat in silence, and thought he knew what was going through her mind. It must be very rewarding to be published at such a young age but he knew that she deserved it more than most potions masters. It was strange to see her emotions running across her face as she normally hid them so well, but right now she seemed to be off in her own world and totally forgotten that he was there. He took advantage of the rare opportunity to watch her so closely without her hiding how she was feeling. Eventually though he decided to get her attention. He had to suppress a chuckle at her rare bout of absent mindedness as she eventually shook her head and looked up to him with an even rarer look of confusion on her face. The confused look didn't leave her face and Snape soon realised that she wasn't merely confused but looked like she was seriously contemplating something.

"Professor, I..." she started but clamped her mouth shut and looked down.

She was going to tell him about her life at home but she was holding back. He had to figure out a way to encourage her without scaring her off. He knew that she would not respond to him being overly kind, she would be suspicious and be even less likely to tell him. What had made her think about telling him? They had just accomplished something incredible, something that she should be so proud of, perhaps she had been thinking about her future and how much better off she would be without the trouble currently plaguing her life. Perhaps she thought she could accomplish more if her step-father wasn't around to hurt her any more. He had to play to that.

Pretending like he wasn't interested in what she had almost said, he casually placed the letter and the journal back in the draw, "It is a wonderful thing that you are going to be initiated into the academic world for," he started, looking up at her, "I'm sure the wizarding world will be dying to see what you do next, you've quite a career ahead of you."

She couldn't do it, she couldn't tell him, he would think she was weak for not dealing with it herself. She shook her head, "I could not have done it without you Professor," she said, the desire to confess all to him dissipating by the second, "Well thank you Professor, I should be going now," she added, standing to leave.

There was nothing that he could do to make her tell him and he was loath to drag it out of her. As much as he hated it, he let it go, hoping that the next time she thought about telling him that she would go through with it. He bid her a good night and watched as she walked out of his office, knowing that he could not let this go on any longer.

xxx

Brooklyn was sitting in the common room reading over the latest copy of Potions Journal International. She was in the December issue and her dear Professor had given her a copy the day before it was due to be published. She was officially published and she was hard pressed to keep the smile from her face. She was so lost in her happy thoughts about being published that she had not noticed Santana Solomon sit down across from her giving her a curious look.

"You certainly look happy," the girl said, a small smile on her face.

Brooklyn looked up at her and frowned. This girl was the most irksome thing in her life right now, apart from Nathaniel Drake of course, and his damn sister. Since there was no other seat in their classes bar the one right next to Brooklyn, she had had to endure the company of the spritely American exchange student since she got here and in every class that they had together - which turned out to be almost all of them. Santana had tried making friends with Brooklyn outside of the classroom as well, much to the annoyance of Brooklyn herself, and the girl did not seem able to be deterred.

She chose not to say anything to the girl and looked back down at the journal, currently reading through an article on the new found uses of antimony. But the girl would not leave her alone.

"That journal is not supposed to come out until tomorrow, how did you get a copy so early?" she asked.

Brooklyn sighed, knowing that she could very well continue to ignore the girl but deciding that answering her might be the better option, "I am in contact with the editor," she answered. It was only a half lie, she technically was in contact with them, through Professor Snape.

"Oh really, well, normally I get a copy early too but he must have been busy," she replied, causing Brooklyn to frown in confusion. What the bloody hell was the girl going on about?

Catching sight of the look on Brooklyn's face, Santana laughed before saying, "Didn't you recognise the last name of the editor?"

Brooklyn flipped the front cover of the journal and saw printed there none other than Arlo Solomon. How had she not made that connection earlier?

"I had not noticed," she replied, "Your father?"

"My uncle actually, but we're very close, my father passed away when I was little and he's been like a father to me ever since," she said with a sad smile.

Brooklyn didn't really know what to say, she had never had to comfort someone before. Surely the girl didn't really need comforting, it had been a long time since her father passed. But was she supposed to express her condolences now since it was brought up?

"My parents are dead too," she said, feeling like an idiot as she blurted it out.

"Oh I am so sorry, it's hard but you get through it," she said, leaning across the small space between them and placing a hand over Brooklyn's.

Brooklyn stared at her hand, willing it to move without her saying anything, when she was torn away from her battle of wills by the sounds of giggling. She looked up to find Santana laughing. She frowned, knowing for some reason that the girl was laughing at her for some reason.

"What are you laughing at?" she asked, not bothering to disguise the annoyance in her voice.

"You, you hate being touched don't you?"

"I don't understand why that it funny, do you like being touched?"

"Well when someone is trying to be friendly I don't mind, like when someone reaches out to shake your hand or console you, that's alright," she answered, laughter still apparent in her voice.

"Mhmp,"

For some reason this response seemed to make her laugh all the more. Brooklyn didn't know why but she didn't mind it. She could tolerate it. She realised that she had never paid all that much attention to the girl sitting across from her. She knew that she had a bubbly, happy-go-lucky personality that was obvious, but she really knew nothing else about her and for the first time she found herself actually looking at the girl. She looked across at the girl she had been forced to share her desk with in class and for the first time realised that the girl was actually quite beautiful. She had large brown eyes, thick black lashes and long black hair that fell in loose curls half way down her back. She had a very petite physique, very feminine hands and dimples that could make the heart of the even the darkest of men melt. Brooklyn had no idea why she had noticed these things but she had. For some reason she found that she wanted to know more about this girl.

She shook her head and looked back down at the journal but found that she could not concentrate. Santana had stopped laughing now and had pulled out some of her own homework. She decided to do the same, although she had finished all her homework already, but she could work in her little green book.

They had been sitting there for about ten minutes in silence when Santana spoke to her again.

"Um, Brook, do you think you could give me a hand with this, I seem to be struggling a bit with this problem for Arithmancy," she said, a confused look on her face.

Brooklyn looked up, "What did you just call me?"

"Oh I'm sorry, I called you Brook, I should have asked first." She looked really sorry for having called her that but Brooklyn found that she didn't mind it.

"It's fine," she said, "What are you struggling with?"

Before Brooklyn knew it she was helping Santana with her whole assignment and then they were talking about potions and Brooklyn found herself telling Santana about how she had been published and showing her the article.

"Brook, this is absolutely amazing!" she exclaimed after she had finished reading it, "I would never have thought of using Wiggentree bark, and you came up with the perfect amount of moly petals to counteract it, you should be so proud of yourself."

Brooklyn couldn't help but smile at her praise. She thought perhaps she could be friends with this girl, but she didn't get her hopes up. This girl was incredibly bubbly and happy, she could be friends with any one and she was choosing to talk to her. Brooklyn knew she had to be wary of the girl but for now she was happy to just smile with her.


End file.
